A version of this story appeared in the Higher Ground newsletter from The Washington Times. Click here to receive Higher Ground delivered directly to your inbox each Sunday.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say local governments should not be able to bar pro-life pregnancy counselors from offering assistance on sidewalks near abortion clinics, according to a survey from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.
In the public-interest law firm’s 2023 Religious Freedom Index, 62% of respondents said pregnancy counselors should be free to stand on a public sidewalk outside an abortion clinic and approach women with information and offers of help. About 38% said counselors should not be allowed to accost women near clinics.
Sidewalk activism has become a thorny issue in the wake of the Supreme Court returning jurisdiction on abortion to the states in 2022.
After the ruling, New York’s Westchester County enacted a law creating a 100-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics where sidewalk activism would be prohibited without explicit consent of the person approached.
Activist Debra Vitagliano sued the county, and a federal appeals court later ruled she could appeal her case to the Supreme Court. Westchester County then repealed the law, admitting that peacefully approaching someone and offering information and help is not a criminal offense.
In September, California’s attorney general said the state would not enforce provisions of a 2021 law barring protests near any health clinic offering vaccinations against sidewalk counselors at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Fresno. That clinic offers HPV vaccines and came under the state law.
Heart and Mind Strategies conducted Becket’s online survey from Sept. 28 to Oct. 5 among a nationally representative sample of 1,000 U.S. adults. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.