Thomas More Society wins in abortion
“Bubble Zone” settlement
(May 31, 2017 – Chicago) Chicago area pro-life
advocates achieved a victory this week with a court settlement that results in
Constitutional rights education for Chicago police. The Thomas More Society’s
challenge on behalf of the Pro-Life Action League, Live Pro-Life Group and
several individual pro-life counselors resulted from misapplication of
Chicago’s abortion-protective “bubble zone” ordinance. In multiple cases,
overenthusiastic or mistaken enforcement of this city ordinance [MCC §
8-4-010(j)(1)] resulted in alleged violation of the First Amendments rights of
those sharing life-affirming alternatives with women seeking abortions. While
the City did not admit liability, it agreed to pay attorneys’ fees.
The “bubble zone” ordinance, which has been
applied exclusively at abortion facilities, designates a 50-foot radius from an
entrance door as an area in which persons are prohibited from intentionally
approaching closer than 8 feet to another person, unless the person consents,
for the purpose of engaging in a covered act, defined as "passing a
leaflet or handbill to, displaying a sign to, or engaging in oral protest,
education or counseling with" the other person.
Officers will receive training on such matters
as:
Both pro-life advocates and abortion escorts
and clinic personnel, if they approach closer than 8 feet from another person
(within the 50 foot radius from a clinic entrance) in order to engage in a
covered act, must have consent from the other person;
An approach to engage in covered acts is
allowable if the person approached consents either verbally or nonverbally;
Just standing in a designated area does not
amount to approaching a person within that area -- there must be some movement
toward the person to constitute an approach.
Ann Scheidler, Anna Marie Scinto Mesia, David
Berquist and Veronica Price peacefully exercised their First Amendment rights
on the public ways near Chicago abortion facilities by reaching out to women who
approached the clinics. The complaint that has resulted in this settlement was
filed to address the alleged unconstitutional constraints that police
enforcement of Chicago’s “bubble zone” ordinance placed on the peaceful work of
these “sidewalk counselors.” A primary issue has been that Chicago police
officers erratically applied the ordinance against them, by, for example,
requiring sidewalk counselors to stay 50 feet away from a clinic entrance
door. The police also selectively enforced the ordinance against sidewalk
counselors but not against abortion clinic escorts.
In January, United States District Judge Amy J.
St. Eve denied the City of Chicago’s motion to dismiss the federal complaint
challenge to the “bubble zone” ordinance insofar as it challenged the
constitutionality of the ordinance “as applied.” She decided that since
2009, when the law was enacted, sufficient instances of discriminatory and
inconsistent enforcement had been alleged to warrant a hearing on whether the
Chicago police enforced the ordinance with “deliberate indifference” toward the
rights of the plaintiffs. She also decided, however, that since the
Chicago ordinance was based on a Colorado statute that was upheld by the U.S.
Supreme Court (in Hill v. Colorado, 530 U.S.703 (2000)), she was not authorized
to find the law itself to be unconstitutional. That ruling would have to
come from a higher court than hers, she concluded. The settlement of the
"as applied" claim allows an immediate appeal of plaintiffs' challenge
to the ordinance itself.
Thomas More Society Counsel Thomas Olp
explained, “Pro-abortion propaganda claims that pro-life counselors intimidate
women approaching abortion clinics. That is not true. That type of
engagement would be ineffective. Pro-life sidewalk counselors compassionately
and calmly approach women, one-on-one, to offer them information about abortion
alternatives. The bubble zone law impedes that interaction, unconstitutionally,
we believe, in violation of our clients’ First Amendment rights. With this
settlement, we have secured Chicago's agreement to train its police force on
the correct application the ordinance. If there continue to be problems in how
the ordinance is applied, we will enforce the settlement agreement or re-file
new allegations. But we also do intend to continue our argument in the
higher courts that the law itself is unconstitutional.”
The Thomas More Society, on behalf of the
plaintiffs, plans to pursue the unconstitutionality of the “bubble zone”
ordinance with an appeal to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Read the settlement agreement in the case, Veronica
Price et al. v. The City of Chicago et al., here.
About the
Thomas More Society: The
Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to
restoring respect in law for life, family, and religious liberty. Headquartered
in Chicago and Omaha, the Thomas More Society fosters support for these causes
by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all
the way up to the United States Supreme Court. For more information, visit thomasmoresociety.org.
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