Minneapolis enacts ‘safety zone’ around Planned Parenthood

Minneapolis City Council members have voted to enact a so-called “safety zone” around the driveways of the city’s abortion facilities. Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey had a public ceremony and press conference to sign the ordinance, which he called, “a really big step in the direction we need to go as a city.”

“This is a really important day, as the Security in Reproductive Healthcare ordinance has just passed the council unanimously,” Frey noted during the press conference. “We in Minneapolis believe that abortion is part of healthcare. We want to make sure that people around the country and specifically in Minneapolis have safe access without obstruction or intrusion to get that necessary reproductive healthcare that they deserve.”

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The ordinance was introduced by councilwoman Lisa Goodman, who stated during the press conference that she previously served as the executive director of Minnesota NARAL, a pro-abortion organization. As she spoke, Goodman consistently referred to the false idea of women having “no access” to abortion facilities.

“This ordinance is going to say that you are not going to be hit, you’re not going to have your car stopped, you’re not going to have people reaching into your vehicle or following you around the street on public right-of-way,” she said.

According to the Star Tribune, the ordinance allows Planned Parenthood, which is currently the city’s only abortion facility, to visibly mark its driveway borders. Sidewalk counselors may stand on the outside of the boundary near the facility, but may not step over the mark — yet sidewalk counselors have said they aren’t blocking anyone.

Thomas Wilkin, sidewalk counseling program director for Pro-Life Action Ministries, told KSTP that the sidewalk counselors outside the facility often belong to his group. He countered the idea that anyone blocks the driveway, noting that it is often the pro-lifers who are harassed.

“We don’t actually block the driveway. We approach cars as they are entering,” Wilkin said. “Our volunteers, in the process, get verbally abused on a daily basis even being pushed several times by Planned Parenthood volunteers.”

Yet during the press conference, Tim Stanley, executive director of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, claimed that “patients, staff, and volunteers are regularly harassed by protesters.” He also posited the ordinance as a way to keep everyone safe, including the sidewalk counselors. “We’re trying to get ahead of that [traffic problems] before an accident happens,” he said. “It really puts public safety at risk.”

Wilkin said that his group will likely challenge the new ordinance for violating their first amendment constitutional rights, though Minneapolis council members are confident that their ordinance will stand in court.