The Fine Line Between Free Speech and Harassment

Sorted under anti-choice extremism on March 1, 2008

anti-choice extremists Anti-abortion extremists in Massachusetts filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s health clinic buffer zone laws.

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed a bill to put a 35-foot buffer zone between reproductive health and family planning clinics and anti-choice protesters last November. The reason behind this law is to ensure the safety of the clinic patients, as well as their staff as they enter and exit the clinics. There have been many cases of anti-abortion extremists protesting outside of these clinics across the country and by doing so, they are clutching their free speech cards and claiming that they are doing nothing wrong. This is true since the people of this country are able to voice their personal opinions and beliefs and there is, of course, nothing wrong with that. However, blatant harassment is not free speech.

You are not practicing free speech when you are screaming in the faces of the staff and patients of these clinics. You are not practicing free speech when you are screaming at the women walking into these health clinics and calling them murderers when you simply assume that is the reason why they must pay a visit to the clinic. You are not practicing free speech when you are telling women that their fetuses have a right to life when they may be visiting the clinic simply to get birth control or for their annual pap smears.

“For too long, patients and staff had to endure in-your-face screaming and harassment just to get to doctor’s appointments,” Angus McQuilken, vice president of public affairs for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, told the Boston Globe. “This 35-foot zone is more than reasonable.”

Between the hostility, billboard-sized pictures of fetuses, flyers that tell women that they are murderers and attempting to invoke guilt and the process of attempting to criminalize women for seeking a medical procedure that is legal, not only do I feel that the 35-foot buffer zone is “more than reasonable,” I feel as if there should be a much greater distance that these people must keep away from the Planned Parenthood health clinics. How dare they attempt to file a lawsuit saying that they are being denied the right to free speech. Women are being denied the right to safely and securely enter a health clinic based on other people’s moral opinions.



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  • Beautiful Blog, i Love it and the articles are great
  • More than just convenient, for the staff that work at these clinics and the women that visit them, I think this 35 ft buffer zone protects them from serious violence. C'mon! You've seen how worked up these people get. The pic is a great illustration of that. Take away that barrier, put these people within arm's reach, and watch as the news starts reporting more assaults at the clinics.
  • I am a man. but i must say, sometimes i would like to be a woman because of this power you have. beautiful blog, great articles!
  • Debbie Grubb
    I have been on every side of this issue as human being can possibly be,except for planting the seed. Yes,for those that can't read between the the lines, I am a woman. So many will say-yep,she has an agenda. So 1)Adopted-no history 2)divorced parents-poverty raised with no father figure 3) Married,Young mother-in college 4)Divorced,young single Mom working through every hoop they threw.5)Teenage daughter-pregnant 6)someone keeps telling us we have rights, and I'm guessing that is a right to make a choice. My mother and father made one,I made one,my daughter has made one yet none of those bleeding heart pro-choicers or pro-lifers ever offered a minute of true support.And most of the men,who chose to remain silent,sure went on to conveniently forget about their little "oopsie".Perhaps,instead of arguing the right to abortions,we should be arguing the against the right to premature ejaculation. How personal and private would it become then.?
  • Why only 35 foot ? It should be for a hungrand yards!!!
  • The 35-foot zone is reasonable! The people visiting the clinic have a right to approach without the fear of being harassed.
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