Chicago tightening the screws on pro-lifers
Chicago is considering restrictions on pro-life counselors outside abortion clinics.
The Human Relations Committee of the Chicago City Council has voted unanimously in favor of the proposed ordinance, which would restrict the proximity of picketers outside any medical clinic. Joe Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League believes the Council is trying to take away pro-lifers' First Amendment rights to speak to people on the public sidewalk.
"They're talking about an eight-foot 'bubble zone' around each person coming to a medical facility, which means abortion clinic," he explains. "[And] they're trying to keep us 50 feet away from the entrance door to hospitals, medical clinics, healthcare facilities -- in other words, abortion clinics."
According to Scheidler, proponents of the proposed measure argue pro-life counselors scare patients and yell at them. But the pro-life activist counters that accusation.
"We're sidewalk counselors -- we talk to these women, we're trying to befriend them," he says. "We have to talk within eight feet of them because if you're going to hand them any literature [or] show them any pictures of fetal development, you have to be standing by them."
Scheidler says the ordinance, which will come up for a vote before the Council as early as Wednesday, is obviously directed at stifling the constitutional rights of pro-lifers. If it passes, he says the Thomas More Society, which is based in the Windy City, is likely to file suit.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: October 5, 2009
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Chicago is considering restrictions on pro-life counselors outside abortion clinics.
The Human Relations Committee of the Chicago City Council has voted unanimously in favor of the proposed ordinance, which would restrict the proximity of picketers outside any medical clinic. Joe Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League believes the Council is trying to take away pro-lifers' First Amendment rights to speak to people on the public sidewalk.
"They're talking about an eight-foot 'bubble zone' around each person coming to a medical facility, which means abortion clinic," he explains. "[And] they're trying to keep us 50 feet away from the entrance door to hospitals, medical clinics, healthcare facilities -- in other words, abortion clinics."
According to Scheidler, proponents of the proposed measure argue pro-life counselors scare patients and yell at them. But the pro-life activist counters that accusation.
"We're sidewalk counselors -- we talk to these women, we're trying to befriend them," he says. "We have to talk within eight feet of them because if you're going to hand them any literature [or] show them any pictures of fetal development, you have to be standing by them."
Scheidler says the ordinance, which will come up for a vote before the Council as early as Wednesday, is obviously directed at stifling the constitutional rights of pro-lifers. If it passes, he says the Thomas More Society, which is based in the Windy City, is likely to file suit.
Contact: Charlie Butts
Source: OneNewsNow
Publish Date: October 5, 2009
Link to this article.
Send this article to a friend.
