Colorado pro-life counselor challenges state 'bubble law'

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 26 Oct, 22:57 · Archive

A Colorado woman challenging a state law that restricts how close pro-life sidewalk counselors can approach people outside abortion clinics says it violates her First Amendment rights.

Wendy Faustin, a pro-life sidewalk counselor in Colorado, is challenging the state's so-called 'bubble law', which she says prevents her from offering abortion alternatives to women entering clinics. Colorado state law and a Denver municipal ordinance prohibit individuals from knowingly approaching within eight feet of another person without their consent to distribute literature or engage in protest, education or counselling within 100 feet of a health care facility entrance, including abortion clinics.

Faustin told outlets the restrictions force her to speak from a distance about an intensely personal subject and prevent her from quietly offering women information about pregnancy resource centers, adoption agencies and other alternatives to abortion. 'If you're within 100 feet of the entrance to an abortion clinic, I can't approach someone within 8 feet to give them any alternative information,' she said. 'I believe that every woman who is facing this decision deserves to have all the possible information that she might need.'

Violations of the law are classified as a petty offense, carrying a fine or possible short jail sentence. A federal judge rejected Faustin's challenge last July. Her case is currently on appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Colorado's 1993 law in 2000, ruling in Hill v. Colorado that the restrictions did not violate the First Amendment.

How it is being reported

• Pro-life advocate risks jail for offering abortion alternatives outside Colorado clinics"I believe that every woman who is facing this decision deserves to have all the possible information that she might need," Wendy Faustin said.New York Post · 26 Oct, 22:45
• Colorado pro-life sidewalk counselor battles state 'bubble law' she says curtails First AmendmentPro-life sidewalk counselor Wendy Faustin tells Fox News Digital that Colorado's "bubble law" could land her in jail for offering abortion alternatives.Fox News · 26 Oct, 19:07

In this story: Wendy Faustin · Colorado · Denver · U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit · U.S. Supreme Court

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