New York county suddenly reconsiders abortion facility buffer zone law

Westchester County in New York is now said to be reconsidering a buffer zone surrounding abortion businesses as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear the case challenging the constiutionality of the law.

The Westchester County Board of Legislators held a meeting to decided whether or not to amend the “Clinic Access Law,” which created a 100-foot buffer zone around abortion businesses. The law was passed last year and aims to prevent pro-life sidewalk counselors from reaching women who may want to consider options other than abortion. Because of the law, pro-life sidewalk counselors would not be allowed within eight feet of a woman in the buffer zone.

According to the Washington Examiner, the Westchester County Board of Legislators is considering an amendment to the law that would remove the eight-foot provision because it may prove to be unnecessary and “difficult to enforce.” The buffer zone, however, would remain as is. While the Supreme Court upheld a similar law in Colorado in 2000 in Hill v. Colorado, the court looks different today than it did 23 years ago, and the county board doesn’t want to risk losing the case and be the ones to blame for a changed precedent.

Last month, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law — but Joe Davis, counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit group representing the plaintiffs, believes the county board is concerned that the Supreme Court will rule against them and create a new precedent. They don’t want to be the ones behind the case that may overturn a previous abortion-friendly ruling.

“The county is afraid of our lawsuit and afraid of the Supreme Court,” Davis told the Washington Examiner. “They know that this law is about to be struck down and Hill v. Colorado is about to be overruled when this case gets back to the court.”

Davis said that the actions of the county board to reconsider the law is proof that even they know the law is unconstitutional.