Court sides with sidewalk counselors hit by unconstitutional speech limits

A federal court ruling has ordered Louisville, permanently, to stop enforcing its speech restrictions in areas just outside of abortion businesses.

According to a report from the American Center for Law and Justice, the district court handed down a “favorable resolution,” stopping the city completely from enforcing a so-called buffer zone against people in Louisville.

The fight began in 2021 when two sidewalk counselors protested the city’s use of its governmental power to impose “unconstitutional speech restrictions” outside of abortion businesses as well as health care facilities.

Specifically involved were EMW Women’s Surgical Center and Planned Parenthood, which provided abortion at the time.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals soon was called into the dispute, and ruled that the counselors likely would be able to prove their constitutional speech rights were being limited.

When the case then was returned to the lower court, city officials claimed the case should be thrown about because abortion no longer was allowed in the state.

But the ACLJ pointed out that the counselors’ speech rights continued to remain under threat from the city. The city’s motion to dismiss failed and the court soon released its opinion supporting the speech rights of the counselors.

The city now is permanently banned from enforcing its speech restriction ordinance.

The ACLJ reported, “This ruling is a victory for free speech and the rights of sidewalk counselors. Should abortion ever be reinstated in Kentucky, and should EMW resume abortion services, our clients will be protected in their mission to offer women alternatives to abortion immediately outside the clinic’s entrance. In the interim, our clients, along with any other citizens, are free to pray and offer counseling outside any healthcare facility in the city, including EMW and Planned Parenthood.”