A bill is pending before the New York City Council (Intro. 826) that would unfairly restrict the free speech rights of peaceful pro-life witnesses outside of abortion clinics within the five boroughs of New York. Please contact your City Council representative and the Mayor, who supports the bill, to express your opposition to the bill. Here are some important points to make:
1. Intro. 826 would violate the First Amendment.
Intro. 826 contains unclear definitions of the kinds of conduct that would be prohibited, using vague words like "harass" and "interfere." It would chill the free speech rights of persons seeking to provide information to women entering abortion clinics, out of fear of an arrest or civil suit based on an entirely ambiguous standard.
The First Amendment gives very broad protection to free speech rights, particularly when the speech occurs on a public sidewalk, which has been described by the Supreme Court as a "public forum" where citizens generally have a First Amendment right to speak. Intro. 826 fails to respect this fundamental right of all Americans.
2. Intro. 826 is unnecessary.
The proponents of Intro. 826 argue that the bill is necessary to prevent people from knowingly blocking or obstructing a clinic entrance (including vehicular entrances), to prohibit "harassment" within 15 feet of the clinic, and to clarify that the prohibited conduct includes obstructing the clinic entrances.
But this kind of conduct is already prohibited by the current provisions of city, state and federal law, and there are already ample civil and criminal remedies available. In fact, there have been very few violations of the current law -- only five people have been arrested in New York City since 2003 for violations of the state clinic access law, and only four have been convicted. There is clearly no significant problem that needs to be addressed by new legislation.
3. Intro. 826 is unfair.
This bill will lead to unfair prosecutions of ordinary citizens who wish to express their free speech rights, but will be subject to criminal and civil penalties merely because some influential groups consider their speech to be unwelcome. Ultimately, Intro. 826 is unfair to women, who have a right to information before they make the decision on whether or not to have an abortion.
You can find the name of your Council representative here, and e-mail him or her directly through this site: http://council.nyc.gov/html/members/members.shtml.
You can email Mayor Mike Bloomberg here: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html.
Thank you for your actions on behalf of life.
Note: The above communication refers to the recent New York City Council hearing on November 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. After a two hour introduction by the opposition, one - that is, only one City Council member remained to listen to testimony on this issue. Chris Slattery of EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers attended this hearing and reported that this bill is an attempt to limit sidewalk counseling and the ongoing prayer presence outside abortion clinics. This is an attempt to threaten misdemeanor charges for so-called harrassment of clinic clientele. The peaceful, First Amendment-right protected pro-life clinic presence is deemed a threat because women have been turned around from seeking abortions when presented with the facts. At this time, Chris feels this bill will likely pass, but that clinics will overreach in an attempt to discourage the pro-lifer's protests and prayers.
You can look for the video of this hearing at the Council's NY website. Christine Quinn heads the Council and recent news articles, opinions and comments can also be found on the New York Daily News website.
More hearings are scheduled. No dates at this time.
P.S. We encountered some text transfer problems. Sorry for any inconvenience.
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