Pittsburgh’s Abortion Clinic Buffer Zone Passes Legal Test

Two 15-foot, clearly marked buffer zones around clinics where abortions are performed in Pittsburgh are legal.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Nov. 16 said an ordinance creating areas that are off-limits to protesters didn’t violate the free speech rights of several anti-abortion sidewalk counselors. The court said the ordinance was content-neutral, sufficiently tailored, and narrowly focused to address the threat of violence outside the clinics (Bruni v. City of Pittsburgh, 2017 BL 411908, W.D. Pa., No. 14-cv-1197, 11/16/17).

Pittsburgh’s buffer zone law survived the constitutional challenge, unlike other similar laws recently, ...