Pittsburgh Medical Safety Zone Ordinance Modified

It has been a rough week for us here at PPWP.We have had a lot of questions about the Third Circuit's ruling concerning our buffer zone ordinance. It has not been "struck down" as was implied in the Post-Gazette and Associated Press articles but modified so that we must choose either the 15 ft buffer zone or the 8 ft bubble zone. We aren't happy with that either but at least both halves of the ordinance were deemed to be constitutional. Just not together unfortunately. I will never understand why the right to harass and intimidate is more important than the right of patient access to health care. Below, is PPWP's press release concerning the matter. We will be updating as we get more information.

PITTSBURGH, PA – Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania responds to court ruling striking down city ordinance designed to protect the safety and privacy of patients.

Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania is troubled and disappointed by the recent ruling of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit which effectively reduced the protection of women seeking out medical care at family planning centers in Pittsburgh. While pleased that the court approved a modified version of the original ordinance, Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania is concerned with the reduced protections this rule offers patients and others impacted by protesters at medical facilities.

The case, Brown v. City of Pittsburgh, was a constitutional challenge by an anti-choice protester against Pittsburgh’s Medical Safety Zone Ordinance which gave individuals two protections against harassment outside of medical facilities targeted by protesters - a 15-foot fixed no-protest zone around clinic entrances and a floating 8 foot personal bubble zone of protection around each person approaching the clinic. The 8 foot personal bubble is triggered after a person expresses that they are uninterested in speaking with the protester. The protester can continue to protest so long as they are 8 feet from the individual.

While the court determined that both zones are content-neutral and do not violate the Constitution, they concluded that the combination of the two zones was insufficiently narrowly tailored and that the City could keep one but not both kinds of protective zones. The court remanded the case to the trial judge to permit the City to determine which of the two types of buffer zones it wished to keep.

“The security and privacy of our clients has been greatly enhanced by the Pittsburgh Medical Safety Zone Ordinance” said Kim Evert, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania. “We will continue to work with the city to ensure that patient safety needs are met and are dismayed by the courts decision to weaken these protections.”