Judge grants temporary buffer zone outside Louisville abortion clinic ahead of weeklong protests

Courier Journal

This story will be updated.

U.S. District Judge David Hale granted a temporary restraining order Friday establishing a buffer zone at Kentucky's last abortion clinic in anticipation of a week of protests by anti-abortion advocates.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Louisville filed a motion on Tuesday seeking Hale to enforce the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which bars people from blocking access to reproductive health centers.

The motion asked Hale to issue an order creating a buffer zone of about 15 by 7.5 feet in front of the clinic and asked that U.S. marshals and law enforcement officials be authorized to arrest anyone who violates the order.

A hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse, 601 W. Broadway, to further discuss the restraining order.

Background:Anti-abortion group returning to town, vows to fight any buffer zone at clinic

Previous coverage::Metro Council gets a taste of upcoming abortion clinic protests during buffer zone talks

More:Protesters plan to show abortion on Jumbotron in downtown Louisville

Brigitte Amiri, senior staff attorney for the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, praised Hale's decision in a news release Friday.

"Today, a judge provided a small measure of relief to patients at EMW Women's Surgical Center by creating a modest buffer zone to ensure patients may enter the health care center," Amiri said.

"While the government may not keep people off the public sidewalk lightly, the individuals who blockaded EMW have a clear record of breaking the law. No one should be prevented from a medical appointment by an egregious blockade of their health care provider," she said.

In May, 11 people were arrested in protests led by the anti-abortion group Operation Save America, after they blocked the entrance to the EMW Women's Surgical Center, 136 W. Market St.

Background:Louisville Metro Council members consider buffer zone outside Kentucky's last abortion clinic

Initial arrests:11 arrests made in protest at Louisville abortion clinic in May

The order comes ahead of the group's national gathering in Louisville, where events include daily protests at the clinic, a JumboTron showing abortions and a mock trial in front of the federal courthouse.

Joseph Spurgeon, a local leader of the group, said that the buffer zone will not affect their events next week.

"It seems that the language in there says that it doesn't prevent us exercising our free speech rights within or out of the zone. That's how we're reading it. That's how our attorneys are trying to read it," Spurgeon said.

However, the order states that the defendants and "any representatives, agents, employees, or any others acting in concert or participation with any Defendant are further restrained from entering onto EMW property," during hours of operation, two hours before the clinic opens and two hours after the clinic closes.

According to Hale's order, the buffer zone encompasses directly outside the clinic's entrance and between the clinic's property and the curbside patient drop off zone — approximately 15 feet south to north and 7.5 feet east to west from the columns supporting the overhang to the clinic's entrance. Hale's order is effective for two weeks.

Joseph Spurgeon, pastor of Sovereign King Church in Sellersburg, IN, and the local leader of Operation Save America, speaks at City Hall in opposition of the proposed buffer zone around the state's last abortion clinic. July 19, 2017.

Spurgeon said the protesters arrested in May, including the group's national leader Rusty Lee Thomas who is listed as a defendant in the federal order, don't plan to block the clinic entrance.

"The people who were arrested have already agreed to remain across the street, " he said.

Hale’s order states that Thomas and others associated with Operation Save America have made statements indicating that they plan to violate the FACE Act next week.

Spurgeon said in June that if Metro Council were to pass an ordinance creating a buffer zone that he would violate it, but that it would be up to individual protesters if they want to risk arrest.

However, Spurgeon has since changed his stance, and said Friday that his group has no plans to block the clinic's entrance next week and that the blockade in May was "a one-time event." He said Operation Save America is looking to Monday's hearing to further clarify their understanding of the temporary buffer zone.

"If they do try to block our free speech, that will be something that we'll have to fight," Spurgeon said.

Contact reporter Deborah Yetter at 502-582-4228 or dyetter@courier-journal.com. Reporter Tessa Weinberg can be reached at 502-582-4168 or tweinberg@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Tessa_Weinberg.