Why Abortion Clinics Need Buffer Zones [View all]

[Agschmid]

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in a case that could ultimately determine whether women across the country can maintain safe access to abortion clinics. Depending how the justices rule on McCullen v. Coakley, cities and states may no longer be allowed to enact buffer zones around reproductive health care facilities — a policy that abortion providers say is critical for ensuring the safety of their patients and staff, since protests outside of clinics often turn violent.

Earlier this week, the New York Times and the Associated Press both profiled Eleanor McCullen, the 77-year-old plaintiff in the legal challenge who has become the face of the current Supreme Court battle. McCullen says that buffer zones violate her free speech rights, and points out that she’s hardly a threat to women entering health facilities. “I am 5 feet 1 inch tall,” McCullen said in a filed statement for the case. “My body type can be described as ‘plump.’ I am a mother and grandmother.”

McCullen certainly provides a sympathetic figure for the anti-choice community’s position — that buffer zones prevent harmless protesters, mainly good-natured grandmothers, from peacefully striking up conversations outside of clinics. But members of the reproductive rights community say that’s a gross mischaracterization of what actually goes on at abortion clinics around the country.

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