Judge eliminates West Palm Beach abortion mill "buffer zones"

Abortion Clinic 'Buffer Zone' Bounced by Florida Judge

(AgapePress) - The city of West Palm Beach, Florida, has been ordered to stop enforcing a buffer zone designed to keep pro-life activists away from the entrances of abortion clinics. The 20-foot buffer zone, says the winning Christian attorney, was both unprecedented and unconstitutional.

The buffer zone was adopted by the West Palm Beach city commission with the backing of Mayor Lois Frankel and the owner of a local abortion clinic. A city ordinance created the zone around "healthcare" facilities in the area. But federal judge Donald Middlebrooks found not only that the zone was not necessary, but also that claims by the city were unfounded. The city had argued that the ordinance was designed to protect healthcare facilities generally; in actuality, said Middlebrooks, the ordinance targeted pro-life demonstrators at Presidential Women's Center -- an abortion clinic -- in West Palm Beach.

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"The largest buffer zone ever upheld by the United States Supreme Court was eight feet," DePrimo explains. "Other buffer zones allowed individuals to go into the zone and stand stationary so that they could actually hand out literature to willing listeners."

But as DePrimo explains, the zone enacted by West Palm Beach was considerably more restrictive. "This particular buffer zone just completely obliterated any opportunity for any demonstrator to be able to hand out literature or to, as I say, speak face-to-face with even willing listeners," he says.

The attorney says it was vital to fight for the rights of the activists -- and ultimately the lives of the unborn children on the verge of being aborted. He shares that pro-life demonstrators have had "great success" in counseling women outside the Presidential Women's Center.