{"id":29122,"date":"2013-03-22T12:01:35","date_gmt":"2013-03-22T16:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=29122"},"modified":"2013-03-22T22:00:19","modified_gmt":"2013-03-23T02:00:19","slug":"san-francisco-moves-to-silence-sidwalk-counselors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/san-francisco-moves-to-silence-sidwalk-counselors\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco moves to silence sidwalk counselors"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>
\"We<\/a>

We are not militants. (Photo credit: Bethany Bolen)<\/p><\/div>\n

To hear pro-aborts talk, you\u2019d think the only thing keeping the United States from being a \u201creproductive freedom\u201d paradise is the fact that Americans who disagree have the audacity to insist on keeping their own rights, from the organizations their tax dollars fund to the services their businesses provide.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s rights that must yield to \u201cchoice\u201d are freedom of speech and assembly. On Tuesday, San Francisco Supervisor David Campos introduced a measure<\/a> to prohibit pro-life activists from standing within 25 feet of the entrances, exits, or driveways of so-called reproductive health clinics in the area (triple the city\u2019s current 8-foot buffer zone):<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, the laws that we\u2019ve had in place have not been sufficient to protect the women,\u201d Campos said. \u201cDemonstrators continue to not only harass and intimidate, but they try to find loopholes in the existing laws.\u201d [\u2026]<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to strike a balance between the right of free speech and the right of women, especially to access health care,\u201d Campos said.<\/p>\n

There are a handful of such clinics in San Francisco, but the Planned Parenthood site attracts the most attention given the organization\u2019s prominent stature.<\/p>\n

The buffer zones would be marked by signage and paint, with details to be worked out by the Public Works Department. Repeat offenders would face jail time of six months and a $1,000 fine.<\/p>\n

A board committee is expected to hold a hearing on the legislation as early as next month. It would take at least six votes to pass at the full board. Eight supervisors have already signaled their support for the proposal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While pro-lifers\u2019 prayers and signs would retain their potency, keeping sidewalk counselors that far away from the points where they\u2019re most likely to be able to interact with who they\u2019re trying to reach would severely impact their effectiveness, and condemn them to Planned Parenthood\u2019s one-sided, opportunistic brand of \u201ccare.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for balance? The rights don\u2019t need to be \u201cbalanced\u201d; speech can\u2019t keep a single person from entering a building he or she wants to enter, no matter how \u201charassing\u201d Robin Marty thinks<\/a> fetal development images and \u201cWomen do regret abortion\u201d signs might be. The Huffington Post<\/i> comes closer<\/a> to substantiating the charge, but not by much:<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were parking a big truck in front of the entrance [Campos alleged] making it difficult to go in or out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, Planned Parenthood staff worked to install a white-curb loading zone in front of the facility so patients could get in and out with minimal harassment. Even so, protesters were quickly able to skirt the protections by exploiting loopholes in the law or modifying their behavior as soon as authorities showed up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a woman who sits in a wheelchair blocking the loading zone all the time,\u201d Planned Parenthood spokesperson Adrienne Verrilli told HuffPost. \u201cThere are ordinances out there that protect our clients, but we’re coming up empty in how to enforce them. Our clients are coming through the door in tears.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We can\u2019t figure out how to keep people out of our own loading zones, so we\u2019re going to cordon off the whole surrounding area to dissent? Overkill? And as for people allegedly changing their behavior before the cops can see it, I\u2019d like to inform Planned Parenthood of wonderful devices called \u201csecurity cameras.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sidewalk-silencing supporters cite the 1st<\/sup> U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals\u2019 January 1 decision to uphold the constitutionality of a similar Massachusetts law on the basis that states can \u201ctake reasonable steps to ensure the safe passage of persons wishing to enter healthcare facilities.\u201d But that judgment\u2019s far from a consensus view. In 2009, the 3rd<\/sup> Circuit Court of Appeals struck down<\/a> Pittsburgh\u2019s more modest 15-foot buffer zone, finding it \u201cunprecedented\u201d and \u201cunduly\u2014and unconstitutionally\u2014onerous\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe conclude that the Ordinance burdens substantially more speech than necessary and is thus insufficiently tailored,\u201d the opinion states. \u201cBecause we find that the Ordinance\u2019s combination of zones is not narrowly tailored, we hold on the merits that the Ordinance is facially invalid.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Indeed, there are all sorts of protests over all sorts of issues where it doesn\u2019t occur to anyone to stifle speech. Objecting to a 35-foot buffer for Planned Parenthood in Burlington, Vermont, the City Council\u2019s lone dissenter, Paul Decelles, observed<\/a> (note: paraphrasing by VTDigger.com, not Decelles\u2019s exact words):<\/p>\n

If a buffer zone is appropriate in this case, he said, why not also have a buffer zone for panhandling or protests in front of banks? For several months a group of Occupy activists have been gathering in front of the Citizens Bank to demand that it close and leave town.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those who would like to express their objections to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors can contact them here<\/a>, though considering they represent a liberal enclave, don\u2019t expect it to change their decision. To a good liberal, \u201cchoice\u201d trumps even the rights that our Constitution actually mentions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Choice” trumping our rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":29177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nSan Francisco moves to silence sidwalk counselors - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/san-francisco-moves-to-silence-sidwalk-counselors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"San Francisco moves to silence sidwalk counselors - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\""Choice" trumping our rights.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/san-francisco-moves-to-silence-sidwalk-counselors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-22T16:01:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-03-23T02:00:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/pro-life-silent-protest-line.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"120\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Calvin Freiburger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Calvin Freiburger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/san-francisco-moves-to-silence-sidwalk-counselors\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/san-francisco-moves-to-silence-sidwalk-counselors\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Calvin Freiburger\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6eb2bf94c8064b71953ba137bf413c4d\"},\"headline\":\"San Francisco moves to silence sidwalk counselors\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-22T16:01:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-23T02:00:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/san-francisco-moves-to-silence-sidwalk-counselors\/\"},\"wordCount\":847,\"commentCount\":19,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/san-francisco-moves-to-silence-sidwalk-counselors\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/san-francisco-moves-to-silence-sidwalk-counselors\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/san-francisco-moves-to-silence-sidwalk-counselors\/\",\"name\":\"San Francisco moves to silence sidwalk counselors - 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