{"id":336699,"date":"2025-08-24T11:36:31","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=336699"},"modified":"2025-08-22T17:32:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T22:32:17","slug":"federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal court rules for pro-lifers fighting ordinance to block sidewalk counselors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>A federal court in New York awarded pro-life sidewalk counselors a significant victory, ruling that their constitutional rights were violated by a county law aimed at silencing pro-lifers outside abortion facilities.<\/p>\n<h2>Key Takeaways:<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A federal court ruled that an ordinance in Westchester County, New York, which attempted to silence pro-life speech, was unconstitutional.<\/li>\n<li>The plaintiffs, who had asked for only nominal damages, were awarded $1.<\/li>\n<li>Attorneys plan to challenge another portion of the ordinance, which prohibits &#8220;following and harassing.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Details:<\/h2>\n<p>In an August 12 <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.prod.website-files.com\/63d954d4e4ad424df7819d46\/689cdb55b5bf200810b7d713_Order%20Finding%20Plaintiffs%20Prevailing%20Parties%20and%20Entitled%20to%20Fees.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruling<\/a>, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in favor of Oksana Hulinsky and Regina Molinelli, two pro-lifers who were unable to provide sidewalk counseling outside abortion facilities in Westchester County for several years due to a county ordinance which restricted pro-life activity near abortion businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Represented by the Thomas More Society, the duo filed their lawsuit, <em>Hulinsky v. County of Westchester<\/em>, in 2022, claiming that the county&#8217;s law prohibiting &#8220;interference&#8221; outside abortion facilities was unconstitutional. As Thomas More Society <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thomasmoresociety.org\/news\/new-yorks-westchester-county-found-liable-for-violating-free-speech\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reports<\/a>, the ordinance &#8220;imposed a litany of severe restrictions on speech and assembly near abortion facilities, intending to restrict pro-life sidewalk counseling ministries in public spaces.&#8221; The law firm notes that &#8220;the county has since repealed or amended a number of those provisions in response to the Thomas More Society lawsuit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In its ruling, the Court agreed that the county&#8217;s actions in which it \u201ccriminalized large swaths of protected speech&#8221; were unconstitutional. Because the plaintiffs were seeking &#8220;nominal damages&#8221; in the case, the court awarded them $1.<\/p>\n<p>Though the ruling is considered a victory, Thomas More Society said that it intends to appeal a prior court&#8217;s ruling that upheld a provision on &#8220;following and harassing,&#8221; noting that &#8220;the law vaguely defines [this] as ignoring an &#8216;implied request to cease&#8217; on a public sidewalk.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>The Bottom Line:<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cThis ruling sends a powerful message to municipalities nationwide: vague laws targeting pro-life speech will not stand,\u201d said Christopher Ferrara, Senior Counsel at the Thomas More Society.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWestchester County\u2019s pro-life sidewalk counselors seek only to offer compassionate, life-affirming alternatives on public sidewalks\u2014as is their First Amendment right. Westchester\u2019s arrogant overreach tried to silence their voices, but this decision helps reaffirm their constitutional freedom to share the pro-life message.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><b><i>Follow Live Action News on <\/i><\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveactionnewsonline\/\"><b><i>Facebook<\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i> and <\/i><\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/LiveActionOrg\/\"><b><i>Instagram<\/i><\/b><\/a><b><i> for more pro-life news.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A federal court in New York awarded pro-life sidewalk counselors a significant victory, ruling that their constitutional rights were violated by a county law aimed at silencing pro-lifers outside abortion facilities. Key Takeaways: A federal court ruled that an ordinance in Westchester County, New York, which attempted to silence pro-life speech, was unconstitutional. The plaintiffs, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":298004,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[4,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Federal court rules for pro-lifers fighting ordinance to block sidewalk counselors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A NY federal court awarded pro-life sidewalk counselors a victory, ruling their constitutional rights were violated by a county ordinance.\" \/>\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\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Federal court rules for pro-lifers fighting ordinance to block sidewalk counselors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A NY federal court awarded pro-life sidewalk counselors a victory, ruling their constitutional rights were violated by a county ordinance.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/\" \/>\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=\"2025-08-24T16:36:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-22T22:32:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1383933325-court.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\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=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\"},\"headline\":\"Federal court rules for pro-lifers fighting ordinance to block sidewalk counselors\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-24T16:36:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-22T22:32:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/\"},\"wordCount\":397,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Issues\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/\",\"name\":\"Federal court rules for pro-lifers fighting ordinance to block sidewalk counselors\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-24T16:36:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-22T22:32:17+00:00\",\"description\":\"A NY federal court awarded pro-life sidewalk counselors a victory, ruling their constitutional rights were violated by a county ordinance.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Federal court rules for pro-lifers fighting ordinance to block sidewalk counselors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\",\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bridget Sielicki\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Federal court rules for pro-lifers fighting ordinance to block sidewalk counselors","description":"A NY federal court awarded pro-life sidewalk counselors a victory, ruling their constitutional rights were violated by a county ordinance.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Federal court rules for pro-lifers fighting ordinance to block sidewalk counselors","og_description":"A NY federal court awarded pro-life sidewalk counselors a victory, ruling their constitutional rights were violated by a county ordinance.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2025-08-24T16:36:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-22T22:32:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1383933325-court.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bridget Sielicki","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bridget Sielicki","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/"},"author":{"name":"Bridget Sielicki","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f"},"headline":"Federal court rules for pro-lifers fighting ordinance to block sidewalk counselors","datePublished":"2025-08-24T16:36:31+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-22T22:32:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/"},"wordCount":397,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Issues","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/","name":"Federal court rules for pro-lifers fighting ordinance to block sidewalk counselors","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-08-24T16:36:31+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-22T22:32:17+00:00","description":"A NY federal court awarded pro-life sidewalk counselors a victory, ruling their constitutional rights were violated by a county ordinance.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/federal-court-favor-prolifers-ordinance-sidewalk-counseling\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Federal court rules for pro-lifers fighting ordinance to block sidewalk counselors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f","name":"Bridget Sielicki","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bridget Sielicki"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336699"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336699"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":336711,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336699\/revisions\/336711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}