WASHINGTON – A new law enacted today would allow pro-life protestors inside operating rooms of abortion clinics. The law is seen as a huge victory for abortion opponents, who have been limited to protesting on the outside of clinics until now.
“Women deserve to know all of the options available to them,” said Allie Renalds, spokesperson of the Pro-Life Protestors League, “up until the actual procedure itself.”
Pro-choice activists are criticizing the new law, with one press release calling it “legalized harassment.” Planned Parenthood, a national organization that provides health exams, cancer screenings, STD tests, birth control, and abortions, will continue to operate to the best of its ability. “The safest strategy is to ignore protestors,” Planned Parenthood wrote in a statement on their website, “even when they’re shoving pictures of crying angelic babies in your face while a doctor is explaining the procedure with your feet in stirrups.”
This new law comes after a recent Supreme Court decision to void a 35-foot abortion clinic protest buffer in Massachusetts. The old law, which blocked protestors from demonstrating within the buffer zone, was unanimously found to be unconstitutional.
“Petitioners wish to converse with their fellow citizens about an important subject on the public streets and sidewalks — sites that have hosted discussions about the issues of the day throughout history,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his majority opinion. Protestors are seen by pro-choice activists to place an unnecessary burden on women entering the clinics.
The justices attempted to mitigate this ostensible burden by requiring that protestors hang onto the women’s purses should they choose to undergo the procedure. “If nothing else, it gives us a great opportunity to place adoption literature in their bags and toss out whatever birth control we find,” said Renalds.
