Pittsburgh judge to rule on ‘censorship zones’ to keep pro-life protests away
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys will be available for media interviews following a hearing Wednesday in federal court in an ADF lawsuit which seeks to block a Pittsburgh ordinance that creates hundreds of censorship zones that ban leafleting and other free speech throughout the city. The zones block speech around the facilities of abortionists, eye doctors, dentists, and any “therapeutic,” “healing,” or “health-building” treatment services.
photo Pearson Scott Foresman
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down a similar law in McCullen v. Coakley, a case ADF attorneys and allied attorneys filed in 2008. ADF attorneys successfully challenged additional laws in Madison, Wis., and New Hampshire following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“Americans, including those who are pro-life, have the freedom to speak with whomever they please on public sidewalks,” said ADF Litigation Counsel Elissa Graves, who will argue before the court Wednesday. “As the Supreme Court recently noted, this freedom has been a foundational element in American life since the nation began. Because of this, we are asking the court to prohibit enforcement of Pittsburgh’s unconstitutional censorship zones while this case moves forward.”
“The government cannot muzzle speech just because it doesn’t reflect the views of those who promote abortion,” added ADF Senior Legal Counsel Matt Bowman. “Pittsburgh’s zones are clearly unconstitutional, especially in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision affirming the long-recognized fact that public streets and sidewalks are places where free speech is highly protected.”
ADF attorneys represent pro-life individuals who are challenging the ordinance. Mayor Bill Peduto is enforcing the law, which he voted for as a city councilman in 2005.
Under the ordinance, no one may “knowingly congregate, patrol, picket or demonstrate in a zone extending 15 feet from any entrance to the hospital or health care facility.” Health care facilities broadly and vaguely include any “establishment providing therapeutic, preventative, corrective, healing and health-building treatment services on an out-patient basis by physicians, dentists and other practitioners.”
