The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously struck down a Massachusetts law that barred protests near abortion clinics. The law, enacted in 2007, created 35-foot buffer zones around entrances to abortion clinics. State officials said the law was a response to a history of harassment and violence at abortion clinics in Massachusetts, including a shooting rampage at two facilities in 1994. The law was challenged on First Amendment grounds by opponents of abortion who said they sought to have quiet conversations with women entering clinics to tell them about alternatives to abortion.
And when quiet conversations don't work... there's always shooting rampages, right? And, really, who doesn't enjoy having conversations with complete strangers about their private medical choices on their way to see their doctors? (The supremes also handed the president a defeat this morning.)
