Huntington Beach Council Bans Picketing in Front of Homes : Law: Measure is modeled after Tustin statute and was prompted by anti-abortion protests against a doctor.

A divided City Council responded to complaints about anti-abortion protesters by passing a new law early Tuesday that prohibits the picketing of individual homes.

The law was presented as an emergency ordinance--effective immediately--because of concerns some council members had about the safety of a Huntington Beach doctor whose home has been targeted recently by anti-abortion picketers.

“I think (picketing of homes) is a serious problem,” said Councilwoman Linda Moulton-Patterson, who sponsored the ordinance. “I think someone could get hurt.”

The council approved the ordinance 5-2 early Tuesday morning near the end of a 5 1/2-hour meeting Monday night. The vote makes Huntington Beach the seventh local government in the state and the third in Orange County to pass such an anti-picketing law.

The new city law here is modeled after one enacted in Tustin earlier this month. A similar law is in place in Santa Ana.

Moulton-Patterson described the action as “a civil rights law” designed to protect anyone from harassment at their home. But she acknowledged that the concerns about abortion protesters and the related picketing of a Huntington Beach doctor’s home had prompted her concern.

Councilmen Jim Silva and David Sullivan, who voted against the ordinance, complained that it was being rushed through without adequate study.

They noted that a regular ordinance is passed only after two readings and a 30-day waiting period. Moulton-Patterson’s proposal, by contrast, was immediately passed into law because it was drafted as emergency legislation.

“I find it hard to consider emergency legislation when there’s only one case (of residential picketing) in Huntington Beach,” Silva said.

Moulton-Patterson said that picketers have come to the doctor’s home at least three times, although she did not identify the physician.

Dr. David J. Keulan, however, said in a recent interview that his Huntington Beach home and Garden Grove medical office both have been picketed by an anti-abortion organization. Keulan also said his name has been included on “wanted” posters similar to those issued earlier this year for a Florida doctor who was subsequently murdered.

Dr. David Gunn was shot to death March 1 outside a Pensacola, Fla., medical clinic that performed abortions. An anti-abortion activist was arrested and charged with the killing.

Abortion rights supporters in California have been advocating passage of state and local laws to forbid picketing of specific homes. In addition to the three Orange County municipal laws, others have been passed in San Jose, Davis, Palos Verdes Estates and Los Angeles County.

Tustin’s new law resulted in the arrest Saturday of three abortion rights opponents who were demonstrating outside the home of a local doctor.

The laws are rooted in a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows such limitations on picketing.

Neither the Tustin ordinance nor the Huntington Beach law describe unlawful protests or a protected zone surrounding an individual home. Instead, the laws in both cities state: “It is unlawful for any person to engage in picketing before or about the residence or dwelling of any individual, where such picketing is focused or targeted against that residence, dwelling or individual.” Persons convicted of violating Huntington Beach’s new law can be sentenced to up to six months in jail and fined up to $500.

Anita Mangels of Laguna Beach, representing the California Abortion Rights Action League, spoke at the meeting in support of the plan.

There was no testimony at the meeting from representatives of groups opposed to abortion rights. But Peter J. French of Laguna Beach, a leader of the Orange County arm of Operation Rescue, a group opposed to abortion rights, said Tuesday that he thinks Huntington Beach’s new law curtails freedom of speech.

“I think it’s scary and dangerous that any citizen of this country would stand by and allow their governing bodies to pass ordinances that severely limit the constitutional right of free speech,” French said.

French also said that Operation Rescue and other groups opposed to abortion rights are being unfairly and inaccurately portrayed by those who seek to pass limits on picketing. “I’ve been to every single picket, and I’ve never seen a pro-life person harass anyone,” French said.

Councilman Sullivan, who opposed the ordinance, said he was also concerned that it could result in expensive litigation for the city.

“I don’t think we need to expose ourselves to any further lawsuits,” he said.

Others on the seven-member council said the ordinance was both reasonable and badly needed.

“I think this is appropriate for emergency legislation,” said Councilman Earle Robitaille, a former police chief.