Abortion Protesters, Metro Area Split Result in Buffer Zone Case

Anti-abortion protesters partially defeated a Kentucky ordinance that created a 10-foot “buffer zone” around a then-active abortion clinic because the provision violates the protesters’ First Amendment free speech rights, a federal court said.

The Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government law wasn’t narrowly tailored to burden no more speech than necessary to further the government’s interest in protecting people entering and exiting the health-care facility because it could be applied to other facilities, the US District Court for the Western District of Kentucky said Sept. 13. The metro government, however, prevailed on the protesters’ claim that the measure violated their First Amendment ...