Pro-Life Advocate Sues San Diego Over “Bubble Zone” Law Violating First Amendment

 Thomas More Society Challenges Anti-Free Speech Ordinance Enacted by San Diego 

(San Diego, California) A California man who has engaged in pro-life advocacy outside of abortion facilities for the past 15 years is suing San Diego for its newly-enacted “bubble zone” ordinance. Under the city law, speech is restricted within 100 feet of the entrance to an abortion facility, and even further restricted within an 8-foot bubble around persons within that zone. On behalf of pro-life advocate Roger Lopez, Thomas More Society attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against the city on September 5, 2024. The lawsuit argues that the speech-restricting ordinance violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of pro-life individuals to offer information on life-affirming alternatives, as well as the rights of the women entering an abortion facility to hear it.

 

The lawsuit alleges that San Diego amplifies favored pro-abortion speech and silences disfavored pro-life speech, despite the San Diego City Council’s past declaration that “it is vital to our democracy to allow free speech for all, even those with whom we vehemently agree.” The ordinance imposes a noise limitation within the 100-foot buffer that is softer than normal conversation and prohibits any act deemed to “harass or intimidate” in a vaguely defined manner. It also imposes a requirement to obtain express authorization before entering a passerby’s 8-foot bubble.

 

According to the lawsuit, San Diego’s bubble zone ordinance is a joint effort between the city attorney’s office and abortion activists, who coordinated to draft a law restricting pro-life speech in flagrant disregard of the First Amendment’s prohibition on both content and viewpoint discrimination. City Attorney Mara Elliot, who vocally condemned the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, praised the ordinance for striking a “proper balance between free speech and public safety.” While ostensibly enacted to protect public safety, San Diego has provided no evidence to support that claim.

 

The federal lawsuit demonstrates that the city law was borne out of the close relationship between San Diego public officials and Planned Parenthood—as evidenced by the operator of the downtown facility’s donation of tens of thousands of dollars to the political campaigns of San Diego’s city attorney, council members, and mayor. Moreover, until the passage of the speech-restricting ordinance, the San Diego city attorney’s office had maintained for over a quarter century that bubble zones are unconstitutional, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s lead in Schenk v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York. On behalf of Roger Lopez, Thomas More Society attorneys are asking the court to uphold the First Amendment rights of pro-life advocates, as well as every abortion-minded woman—who has the right to hear their right to hear their “message of hope.”

 

Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President & Head of Litigation, stated: “San Diego’s bubble zone ordinance is a coordinated attempt to silence and shut down pro-life speech where it matters most: on the public sidewalk outside abortion businesses. The right to freedom of speech is at its highest on the public sidewalk, so attempts like San Diego’s to silence pro-life speech outside abortion businesses is an especially egregious attack on our constitutional rights. We are proud to defend the First Amendment rights of sidewalk counselors, like Roger Lopez, who have dedicated their lives to sharing the pro-life message of hope and offering alternatives to abortion-bound women in need. We will not cease fighting this legal battle, and many more battles like it, until our fundamental rights are restored and respected.”

 

Paul M. Jonna, Thomas More Society Special Counsel and Partner, LiMandri & Jonna LLP, added: “Tragically, Planned Parenthood in Southern California aborts more than 24,000 unborn children every year. Pregnant women report that clinic staff often lie to them about their reproductive options, ignore their needs, and are rude and condescending. Pro-life sidewalk counselors like Roger Lopez offer these women help, compassion, support, and information. But the City of San Diego wants to deprive women of this information—leading them to mistakenly believe that abortion is their only option. In doing so, San Diego is not only harming women and their unborn children, but also unconstitutionally restricting the ability of sidewalk counselors to share the pro-life message—threatening them with ruinous fines if they exercise their First Amendment rights. We look forward to holding the City of San Diego accountable for this unconstitutional assault on free speech rights.”

 

Read the Verified Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in Lopez v. San Diego, filed by Thomas More Society attorneys on September 5, 2024, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, here.  

 

About Thomas More Society

Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and freedom. Headquartered in Chicago and with offices across the country, 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, please visit thomasmoresociety.org.