\n<\/p>\n
A pro-life group challenged a Detroit ordinance creating a speech buffer zone around abortion facilities, arguing that the city\u2019s policy violates the First Amendment.<\/span><\/p>\n The group Sidewalk Advocates for Life sued Detroit in federal court on Wednesday over an ordinance it passed instituting a 15 foot buffer zone around all abortion facilities where pro-life advocates cannot enter. The ordinance also creates an eight foot floating buffer within 100 feet of an abortion facility for any client.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Ordinance, which is enforceable through criminal penalties, violates the Free Speech, Free Exercise, and Freedom of Assembly Clauses of the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as the Michigan Constitution,\u201d said the <\/span>lawsuit<\/span><\/a>, which was filed by the Thomas More Society.<\/span><\/p>\n Kevin Hammer, a member of Sidewalk Advocates, said that the ordinance bans him from handing out pro-life literature while holding a sign reading \u201cAsk Me About Free Ultrasounds and Pregnancy Tests\u201d outside of the Scotsdale Women\u2019s Center in Detroit, Michigan.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur Sidewalk Advocates stand on public sidewalks offering a gentle word and information to women who are willing to receive it\u2014that is what this ordinance criminalizes,\u201d said Lauren Muzyka, the president and CEO of Sidewalk Advocates for Life.<\/span><\/p>\n The suit points out that a recent <\/span>decision<\/span><\/a> from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a similar ordinance implemented by Pittsburgh. The court said that the buffer zone ordinance was overly burdensome on free speech.<\/span><\/p>\n