Judge Restricts Protest Acts at Abortion Clinic

A Superior Court judge has issued a preliminary order prohibiting anti-abortion protesters at an Orange clinic from using a bullhorn, trespassing or blocking access to the clinic.

Judge Phillip E. Cox made the ruling in response to a suit by Family Planning Associates Medical Group Inc., alleging that the protesters were accosting patients on their way into the clinic, yelling at them through a bullhorn and distributing unwanted literature.

The order issued last week stops short of granting any kind of a “buffer zone,” which attorneys for the clinic asked the judge to consider. That issue will be taken up again when a trial is held on whether the order should become permanent, said Carol Downer, one of the clinic’s lawyers.

She said the clinic employees were “delighted” by the judge’s preliminary ruling.

“We are looking forward to having a much more businesslike atmosphere and unfettered access by women coming in,” she said.

The protesters have argued in the past that they are merely exercising their right to free speech and that they are being targeted only because the clinic doesn’t like what they have to say.

They say they do not block access or trespass, and they have not used the bullhorn since the clinic filed its suit in January.