Chicago abortion clinic ordinance protects patients from protesters

Joy Pace, left, and Dennis Menke, of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Champaign, hold signs outside of the Planned Parenthood clinic in Champaign on Friday morning, Oct. 16, 2009. "We've had people out here from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day since September 23," said Pace, referring to the nationwide 40 Days for Life pro-life campaign. "It's a totally non-violent thing."
Ramzi Dreessen The Daily Illini

An ordinance was passed in Chicago on Oct. 7 requiring anti-abortion activists to stay eight feet away from women entering clinics and 50 feet away from clinic doors. The new ordinance is meant to protect clinic patients and staff, but has inspired debates about the right to free speech.

People who do not keep their distance will now have to pay a $500 fine.

According to a Planned Parenthood press release, the new ordinance means nobody can approach patients without consent in order to pass them a leaflet, display a sign, orally protest or offer counsel. It also protects patients and staff from being injured or physically threatened as they enter or exit a clinic.

The press release stated there has been a "significant surge in the number and aggressiveness of protestors" since the May 31 assassination of Dr. George Tiller of Wichita, Kan., who provided abortion services,

Beth Kanter, Planned Parenthood of Illinois' senior vice president of external affairs, recalled several recent instances of harassment.

"We have seen children who are being encouraged by their parents to shout at and harass our staff members coming in and patients coming in," she said.

Kanter also said protestors would wear lab coats or vests resembling those of clinic staff in order to confuse and intimidate patients.

"It's really quite atrocious," she said.

Though all of the Planned Parenthood sites encounter protestors, including the Champaign site, the protestors in Chicago are the most outrageous, Kanter said.

John-Paul Deddens, the executive director of Students for Life of Illinois, said he views the ordinance as a violation of the First Amendment.

Students for Life is an organization helps students develop an anti-abortion culture on campuses by providing training, resources and support, according to their mission statement. The group sponsors 40 Days for Life, a pro-life prayer vigil, in the Champaign-Urbana area. Members of Students for Life protest outside abortion clinics in both Champaign and Chicago.

"I don't have a problem with this because it doesn't inhibit free speech, it just protects the patients. I think it's a good balance," said Samara Shein, junior in Media who disagreed with Deddens' viewpoint. "It's not saying that people can't protest, it's just saying that they have to keep their distance from patients."

Kanter said she does not believe the ordinance violates the right to free speech.

"This ordinance really strikes a balance between protecting private safety and free speech; a law similar to this was upheld by the Supreme Court."

The law Kanter referenced, passed in 1994 in Colorado, created a 100-foot fixed buffer zone around clinic doors, as well as an 8-foot floating buffer zone around patients and staff entering a clinic. It has been appealed eight times in federal court and upheld each time.

The Chicago City Council voted 28-13 in favor of the measure, which takes effect Nov. 17.