SCOTUS DECISIONS: strikes down “buffer zones” at abortion clinics

I just heard that the Supreme Court of the United States, in a unanimous decision, struck down “buffer zones” around the clinical profit centers of big-business abortion.

I also heard that SCOTUS found that Pres. Obama’s so-called recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board were not lawful.

Apparently POTUS can’t just do anything it pleaseth him to do.

Now we will wait to see what actually happens.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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16 Comments

  1. frival says:

    I’m hoping this means the NH buffer zone law that was just passed and signed recently is also effectively dead. At the abortion mill in my city their 35′ buffer would nearly have put protesters onto different streets given how the block is laid out.

    Also, according to SCOTUSblog, the NLRB rulings made by those who were recess appointments are also null and void. How they handle that going forward is, at least to me, unclear at this time.

  2. Robbie says:

    The big ruling is yet to come though and that’s Hobby Lobby. I fully expect portions of the Catholic majority on the Supreme Court will let us down.

  3. ReginaMarie says:

    I welcome the buffer zone ruling as I have friends who’ve done jail tome for sidewalk counseling outside the killing centers.

  4. Facta Non Verba says:

    Both decisions are good results. And, I’m expecting on Monday that the contraceptive mandate in the ACA to be struck down both as unconstitutional under the First Amendment and as a violation of the federal RFRA statute.

  5. KateD says:

    WoooooHooooo! It is so important for sidewalk counselors to be able interact directly with the women and workers who are looking for a way out. It is important for the women and workers to see people who love them unconditionally and genuinely care for them and are willing to help; for them to know that they, and their child are lovable and to know that there are other options.

    In California as of July 1st, abortion clinics will no longer be required to tell the women what an abortion is, what the dangers are, no alternatives need be discussed, no pre-op counseling, no post-op counseling, the abortions are performed by a tech, not an MD, the abortion clinics are not required to maintain the same standards of all other medical facilities in the state. Couple this with the fact that minors need not have the consent of their parents and you have a very sad situation.

    Pray for the soul of Jerry Brown, the governor…he was once a Catholic seminarian (3 years)! His dad, Pat Brown, also a CA state governor, made his reputation closing down abortionists. Imagine that father’s sorrow!

    On a broader scale, the decision of the Court was a ‘DUH’ as this is, after all, the United States of America. Thank God people are beginning to remember what that means. FREEDOM!

  6. The Masked Chicken says:

    Hang onto your hats (or birettas). The next week is going to be a bumpy ride.

    The Chicken

  7. Gregg the Obscure says:

    Today is the anniversary of two massive miscarriages of justice at SCOTUS.

    On this date in 2013 the Defense of Marriage Act was gutted, giving federal approval to the redefinition of marriage.

    On this date in 2003 the Lawrence v. Texas decision invented a federal constitutional right to commit what was until very recently most aptly described as “the unspeakable crime against nature’.

  8. greg3064 says:

    In California as of July 1st, abortion clinics will no longer be required to tell the women what an abortion is, what the dangers are, no alternatives need be discussed, no pre-op counseling, no post-op counseling, the abortions are performed by a tech, not an MD, the abortion clinics are not required to maintain the same standards of all other medical facilities in the state. Couple this with the fact that minors need not have the consent of their parents and you have a very sad situation.

    I guess that is what “reproductive justice” looks like?

    It’s “justice” disjointed from truth. According to these policies it’s actually a bad thing for people to know (what an abortion is, that a procedure has medical risks, what their children are up to).

  9. Priam1184 says:

    As happy as these rulings make me want to be I cannot be too happy since I know that the Utah case that has the potential to make homosexual ‘marriage’ the law of the land in all 50 states is rapidly winging its way toward the court and I have a very bad feeling as to how that one will turn out. What is left of our civilization is hanging by a single thread and that thread is fraying.

  10. Patti Day says:

    Our Lady is at work here. Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us.

  11. Cosmos says:

    It shot down a 35-foot buffer zone law, not buffer zones in general, correct?

  12. If we really live in a free country, then why do we have to sit on the edge of our seats every summer, biting our nails over whether and how the Supreme Court is going to hammer us this term?

  13. Cincinnati Priest says:

    Cosmos: Correct. While the Court unanimously agreed that the particular buffer law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was a violation of the First Amendment, Chief Justice Robert concurred with the four knee-jerk liberals in deciding that the buffer was too large, not that buffers are unconstitutional in principle.

    At least one of the four conservative justices argued that buffers targeting pro-lifers for viewpoint discrimination were not constitutional at all, but that was a minority opinion.

    Roberts wrote the majority opinion.

    So this is mixed news, not great news.

    Not surprisingly, the pro-aborts in Massachusetts (including “Catholic” attorney general Martha Coakely) are already vowing to find other ways to harrass the pro-lifers and sidewalk counselors that will pass constitutional muster. But of course they don’t use that language. They claim they are “protecting women.”

  14. Charivari Rob says:

    Cosmos: Yes, it appears that the general concept of buffer zones has not been ruled out – just this one.

    “Before 2007, a floating buffer zone kept protesters from approaching unwilling listeners any closer than 6 feet if they were within 18 feet of the clinic. The floating zone was modeled after a Colorado law that the Supreme Court has upheld. That decision was not called into question in Thursday’s ruling”

    Assorted state government officials made statements to the effect that they are looking at writing new rules as soon as possible.

  15. Dave N. says:

    This headline is a bit misleading since the decision is a very narrow one, applying only to the buffer zone law in Massachusetts.

  16. j says:

    It’s important to note that the decision was easy BECAUSE of the details of the situation in MA.

    First, the law banned only one kind of speech and was thus Unconstitutional – allowing “escorts” within the 35 foot zone but not counselors invalidated the idea of any zone.

    Second, the ruling was easy because of the good behavior of the prolife counselors in Boston. This is VERY VERY VERY important going forward. The law was easily ruled Unconstitutional because it had no reasonable purpose. The Court has held that threats, intimidation, physical blocking can all be used as legitimate reasons for a restriction of some kind, BUT, since NONE of those ever happened in MA, all of those were already against the law in MA, and officials had never made any arrests on those bases, this was a law without any reason at all, let alone a compelling state interest.

    There may be some on this site who may be upset that there is a possibility of restrictions if counselors issue threats, intimidate, or physically block entrances. Don’t be. Those tactics may be personally satisfying and raise the perceived importance of the protestors, but they don’t really work. Kindness, quiet counsel, unfailing aid, and addressing the needs and fears of women seeking abortion may not get anyone a headline, but it is what works. It is also the type of positive speech that will be defended at the highest levels, without reservation.

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