Abortion protesters continued to respect Portland’s 39-foot buffer zone around the entrance to a Planned Parenthood clinic Friday, one day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 9-0 against a similar buffer law in Massachusetts.
About a dozen women and children stood across Congress Street from the clinic, quietly holding signs equating abortion to murder.
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It was much the same protest that has been happening weekly since November, when the Portland City Council passed an ordinance that banned people from standing within 39 feet of the entrance to Planned Parenthood of Northern New England.
Before that, the protesters would line the sidewalk in front of the entrance and speak directly to some of the women entering.
Protesters have sued Portland in federal court to overturn the buffer zone as a violation of the constitutional protection of free speech. Both sides had been waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Massachusetts’ 35-foot buffer zone because it could set a precedent for the dispute here.
Portland officials have said they will review the ruling before deciding whether it will affect their defense of the local ordinance.
Lawyers for the protesters said Thursday the Supreme Court ruling gives them confidence that the Portland protest-free zone also will be struck down. However, protesters made it clear Friday that they will respect the buffer zone in the meantime.
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