Forgot your password?
New user?
State prison plans: mental therapy or torture?
Voters sue to put health amendment on ballot
Document Actions
House approves buffer zones law for abortion clinics
Friday, November 2— Yesterday, the Massachusetts House passed legislation to establish a 35-foot fixed protest-free buffer zone around the entrances and exits of all reproductive health facilities in Massachusetts.
Defending abortion rights against Operation Rescue, January 2006 [photo: Mystic River Green-Raibow Action]
Passage of this bill will mean the creation of a stronger and more enforceable Buffer Zones Law that will protect the safety, privacy and dignity of patients and staff alike.
Planned Parenthood of Massachusetts (PPM) expects the bill to arrive on Governor Patrick's desk by the end of next week.
"This would not have been possible without the efforts of everyone who contacted their legislators to express their support for a stronger Buffer Zones Law," said PPM. "As yesterday's vote shows, your activism is making an important difference."
The bill passed the House by a vote of 122-28. An identical bill passed in the Senate a week earlier.
Abortion rights clinic defense
For over ten years, anti-abortion fanatics from "Operation Rescue" (OR) have mobilized to harass women seeking healthcare at Planned Parenthood's main clinic in Allston. On the morning of the second Saturday of each month, they assemble up to a hundred people to sing hymns and recite the rosary while other individuals shout in the faces of clients and passersby.
In the summer of 2005, the Coalition to Defend Reproductive Rights (CDRR) was organized to counter OR, silently and non-violently standing between them and the clients with pink banners.
CDRR observed that the Boston police detail seldom interfered with OR activities. Only one arrest was made over the past two years.
The police say that they had been unable to obtain convictions under old law because it was too vague to enforce.
Mystic River Green-Rainbow actively participated in the CDRR actions. The Green-Rainbow Party endorsed the actions and the Buffer Zone Bill.
MRGRA meeting