NY County Nixes Pro-Abortion ‘Bubble Zone’ Law
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CV NEWS FEED // A Catholic organization won a lawsuit against a New York county this week, leading to the repeal of a “bubble zone law” that prohibited pro-life advocates from approaching women seeking abortions.
Legislators in Westchester County, New York, voted to repeal an eight-foot “floating bubble zone” around people entering or leaving abortion facilities. The news comes after the county faced a lawsuit from the Thomas More Society. The “bubble zone” is one of Westchester’s seven Chapter 425 restrictions regarding abortion that were passed several days after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year.
In a press release, Thomas More Society Senior Counsel Christopher Ferrara said “The bubble zone was unconstitutional the moment the board passed it.”
The bill went against the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, which critiqued the 2000 Supreme Court ruling on a similar case, Hill v. Colorado.
“That ridiculous bubble zone was only the most egregious of seven different restrictions on pro-life counseling under Chapter 425,” said Ferrara.
Though the bubble zone law has been repealed, there are still more that the Thomas More Society intends to challenge.
“Our challenge to the remaining six restrictions on pro-life sidewalk counseling in Chapter 425 continues,” continued Ferrara.
The organization has already appealed to the Second Circuit over the District Court’s refusal to block the other six Chapter 425 laws.
“We will not rest until pro-life advocates in Westchester County have the same First Amendment rights to use the public sidewalks for advocacy, just as Black Lives Matter and every other kind of advocate for a cause,” Ferrara continued in the statement.
“As the Supreme Court’s overruling of Roe v. Wade has sent the question of abortion back to each state, it is more important than ever that the right to communicate lifesaving information be protected,” Ferrara added.
“Those who seek to defend the right to life are constitutionally guaranteed the freedom to speak their mind, and shame on any governmental unit that attempts to curtail that.”
