Tuesday August 14 1:16 PM ET
By Christopher Noble
BOSTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court has ruled a Massachusetts law creating protest-free buffer zones around abortion clinics is constitutional, overturning a lower court decision that found the zones were an unlawful restriction of free speech.
The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled late on Monday the law did not violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of free speech.
In a unanimous decision, the three-judge panel concluded the Massachusetts law did not regulate speech based on its content and found it was narrowly tailored to serve a governmental interest of protecting patients at reproductive health clinics and promoting public safety.
The court, citing ``repeated incidents of violence and aggressive behavior'' at health clinics, found the statute was ''not a regulation of speech. Rather, it is a regulation of the places where some speech may occur.''
The court in December had already lifted an injunction imposed by a lower court that barred the enactment of the law.
Thomas Harvey, a lawyer for three plaintiffs who were seeking to have the law overturned, said they were considering their options, which included filing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites), or seeking a trial before a lower court.
``We haven't come to a decision,'' Harvey said. ``We very well might go back to Judge Harrington and have evidence taken and have a trial.''
Written after a 1994 attack on two Massachusetts abortion clinics in which two women were killed, the law prohibits anyone from approaching within 6 feet of patients who are within 18 feet of a clinic entrance without the patient's consent.
It went into effect on Nov. 10, 2000, but was put on hold 10 days later after U.S. District Judge Edward Harrington ruled it was unconstitutional because it was a regulation of speech based on its content, a violation of the First Amendment.
Harrington issued a preliminary injunction barring the state from enforcing the law pending the outcome of a hearing on the merits of a lawsuit challenging it. The lawsuit was filed by Ruth Schiavone, Mary Anne McGwire and Jean Zarrella. Arguments have not been scheduled.
Harrington's ruling surprised many observers because the Massachusetts law is similar to a buffer zone law in Colorado that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in June.
Harrington found the Massachusetts law was different because it applied only to abortion clinics while the Colorado law applied to all health-care facilities.
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