Pittsburgh’s Abortion Clinic Buffer Zone Law Upheld

A Pittsburgh ordinance drawing a 15-foot buffer zone around medical facilities where abortions are performed doesn’t violate the free speech rights of “sidewalk counselors,” the Third Circuit said.

The ordinance by its terms doesn’t apply to anti-abortion protesters who engage in “peaceful, one-on-one” conversations with people entering the clinics, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said Oct. 18. Thus, it’s valid as applied to those protesters, the court said.

The ordinance prohibits four activities: congregating, patrolling, picketing, or demonstrating within 15 feet of a hospital or health-care facility entrance. The sidewalk counselors’ activities don’t meet the definition ...