In Sisters for Life, Inc. v. Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government, (WD KY, Sept. 13, 2024), anti-abortion sidewalk counselors challenged a city ordinance that created a ten-foot buffer zone from the street to the door of health care clinics. Only clinic personnel, patients and those accompanying them, law enforcement and persons walking through to a different destination could enter the buffer zone. The ordinance was passed because of problems at one particular abortion clinic. The court found that the Ordinance would have been permissible if limited to clinics with problems but violated free speech rights because it applies to all healthcare facilities. The court said in part:
At the time of the ordinance’s passage, the city had established healthcare access problems at only one facility—EMW—and principally on Saturday mornings…. It is clear from the record that the Council intended for the ordinance to create buffer zones only at facilities which were having access or safety issues and chose to request a buffer zone, like abortion clinics, battered women’s shelters, and emergency rooms…. This is what the legislators expected in drafting and passing the ordinance…. And how EMW understood the ordinance to work…. And how LMPD enforced its terms….
… Metro Council gave careful consideration to each alternative and endeavored to choose the least burdensome option. But for its inadvertent application to facilities with no established access issues, it is difficult to imagine how the ordinance could be more closely tailored to the city’s interest in preserving safe access to healthcare facilities. Regardless, the Court is bound by the Sixth Circuit’s holding: “The [Supreme] Court’s conclusion in McCullen applies here. This buffer zone is not narrowly tailored.”…
The court also concluded that the ordinance did not violate plaintiffs’ free exercise rights or the Kentucky Religious Freedom Restoration Act because the ordinance is neutral and generally applicable.
