The Supreme Court’s ruling that a Massachusetts law declaring a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics was unconstitutional is having reach far beyond the Bay State.
A number of cities around the country are now halting enforcement of buffer zone laws because they do not believe the laws will stand up to the new standard set by the Court.
Burlington, Vermont, which has a similar 35-foot buffer zone law on the books, is suspending enforcement of the law. The city’s attorney said that she will work with the city council to eliminate the prohibition from the law while still protecting the entrances and exits of the clinics.
Other cities suspending buffer zone laws include Portland, Oregon and Madison, Wisconsin.
“The government cannot gag speech just because it doesn’t reflect the government’s views or the views of abortionists,” Alliance Defending Freedom’s Matt Bowman stated. “The Supreme Court has now made it even more clear that public streets and sidewalks are places where free speech is highly protected.”
Missouri Democrat Governor Jay Nixon has vetoed a bill that would have required a 72-hour wait before ending the life of a baby via abortion.
The bill would have tripled the current 24-hour waiting period for an abortion.
“[This bill has] no demonstrable purpose other than to create emotional and financial hardships for women who have undoubtedly already spent considerable time wrestling with perhaps the most difficult decision they may ever have to make,” Nixon said.
The governor also said the bill was “extreme and disrespectful” and would “unnecessarily prolong the suffering of rape and incest victims and jeopardize the health and wellbeing of women.”
Republicans said they would attempt to override the veto during a September session. It would require a 2/3 vote of both houses to override the governor.
Northern Alabama will be without any abortion clinics as of June 27th.
Alabama Women’s Center is voluntarily shutting its doors because they cannot meet the requirements of the state’s new abortion law which goes into effect on July 1.
The Alabama Women’s Health and Safety Act, which passed in April 2013, stipulates that doctors working at abortion clinics in the state have hospital admitting privileges in the same city where they perform abortions. Also, all abortion clinics must meet the same safety standards as ambulatory surgical centers.
The standards include making sure hallways are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and patient gurneys. Failure to meet the requirements would mean the state health department must revoke the clinic’s license.
The clinic’s owners say they hope to be able to reopen their clinic in the future at a different location that meets the state requirements for women’s health and safety.
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a Massachusetts law requiring a 35 foot zone around abortion clinics where pro-life protesters could not speak to women seeking an abortion is unconstitutional.
Court observers were surprised to see the law was struck down in a unanimous ruling.
Chief Justice John Roberts said that authorities have less intrusive ways to deal with problems outside abortion clinics without violating the free speech rights of pro-life activists.
The decision, while unanimous, was not without some dissent. The chief justice joined with the court’s four liberal justices on a narrow ruling that this particular law was unconstitutional. The court’s four conservative justices issued briefs expressing concerns.
Justice Antonin Scalia criticized the majority opinion for continuing “this court’s practice of giving abortion-rights advocates a pass when it comes to suppressing the free-speech rights of their opponents.”
The Massachusetts law replaced an earlier law that created a “six foot bubble” around unwilling listeners if they were within 18 feet of the clinic. The “floating zone” was modeled after a Colorado law that has been upheld in the past by the Court.
A judge appointed by President Obama created a hostile environment in their courtroom when they implied that a pro-life doctor was a liar.
Federal Judge William Conley is overseeing a trial challenging a Wisconsin state law that requires abortionists to have admitting privileges at hospitals. The law is similar to one upheld in many southern states.
Dr. John Thorp, an obstetrician with the University of North Carolina, was testifying about abortions and the complications that arise during the procedure. As Dr. Thorp was testifying, Judge Conley began to make an increasingly hostile series of questions and comments to Dr. Thorp.
When Dr. Thorp testified that he believed complications for abortions to be under-reported by abortion providers, Judge Conley referenced a quote from author Mark Twain.
“[There are] lies, damn lies and statistics,” the Judge said to Dr. Thorp.
When Dr. Thorp was obviously insulted by the Judge’s implications he was a liar, the Judge tried to backtrack and say that he wasn’t really saying that Dr. Thorp was lying.
Dr. Thorp stuck to his testimony throughout the rest of the hostile questioning.
“Admission privileges allow for continued care rather than sending a patient to a black box, which is my opinion what transfer agreements allow them to do,” Thorp said. “I reject the final premise that a law like this will harm Wisconsin women.”
Louisiana has become the latest state to pass laws aimed at requiring abortion clinics to have safe conditions on the level of other major medical facilities.
One of those requirements is for abortionists to have admitting privileges at hospitals within 30 miles of the abortion clinic.
House Bill 388 reads: “On the date the abortion is performed or induced, a physician performing or inducing an abortion shall have active admitting privileges at a hospital that is located not further than thirty miles from the location at which the abortion is performed or induced and that provides obstetrical or gynecological health care services.”
The law passed the House of Representatives 88-5 after passing the Senate 34-3 earlier this month.
Governor Bobby Jindal said he’s looking forward to signing the bill.
The law reportedly will force three of the state’s five abortion clinics to close.
An abortion clinic in Dallas has closed after the abortionist was unable to secure admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
The closure marks the 20th abortion clinic in the state to close since the passage of stronger legislation regarding the cleanliness and safety of abortion clinics. The law also increased the conditions for welfare of women who choose to end their child’s lives in those clinics.
The closed clinic was associated with abortionist Douglas Karpen, who has been accused of killing babies born alive during late-term abortions similar to convicted murder Kermit Gosnell in Pennsylvania.
A spokesman for Operation Rescue said that part of the problem for the clinics is that operators are considered liabilities for hospitals and that is why they’re having trouble obtaining privileges.
The next phase of the law goes into effect on September 1st that requires all abortion clinics to have the same safety and cleanliness standards as ambulatory surgical centers. The requirements include having equipment to properly sterilize equipment and ensuring the doors to the facility are wide enough to accommodate stretchers in the event of an emergency.
Representative Jason Villalba of Dallas said the law is a pro-woman law that aims to make sure any woman undergoing a surgical procedure is having it in a sanitary environment.
The Missouri legislature has passed a law that will require any woman who is seeking an abortion to wait 72 hours after they initially contact a clinic.
The measure triples the current waiting period in the state and makes Missouri the third state behind Utah and South Dakota to require 72 hours. The waiting period would be waived in the event of a medical emergency.
The bill passed the Missouri House 111-39 and sent it to the governor who has a pattern of allowing abortion restrictions to become law without signing the bills. Last year, Nixon ignored a bill that requires doctors to be in the room when the initial dose of drugs for medical abortion is injected.
Nixon told reporters that he would review the waiting period and make a decision in line with his other decisions regarding abortion legislation.
Pro-abortion advocates were furious at the passage of the law saying that it could be medically dangerous to make a woman wait two more days before ending the life of their child via abortion.
A group of U.S. Senators joined with pro-life activists in calling for a new law that would prohibit abortions after the 20th week of gestation.
The rally called for passage of the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senator Lindsey Graham were among the dignitaries that called on Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring the bill to the floor for debate and a vote.
“This legislation, which according to five major national polls is supported by the majority of Americans, would protect babies and women from the horrific violence of abortion beyond 20 weeks,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List.
The 20-week abortion ban is in place in 13 states.
Pro-abortion groups like Planned Parenthood are vehemently against the bill even though they admit that 99% of the abortions in the U.S. happen before the 20th week. They are also angry the bill would jail doctors for 5 years if they perform abortions after the 20th week.
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has signed a law that prohibits any health plan being sold in the state from including abortion coverage.
The law includes any policy that is sold through the federal health care exchange website.
“No abortion coverage shall be provided by a qualified health plan offered within the State of Georgia through a state law, federal law or regulation or exchange created by the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” the bill reads. The move will bar any taxpayer dollars from funding abortions because of a subsidized health care policy.
“Given the fact that the majority of Americans do not want to pay for abortions, it’s vital to restrain the influence of the abortion industry that has been enriched by taxpayer funds,” Dr. Charmaine Yoest of American United for Life said.
Many states have passed laws requiring people to purchase a special rider for health care plans if they wish to have abortion included under their health insurance.
