Chicago OK’s ‘bubble’ around abortion centers

No protests will be allowed in eight-foot zone

Patients and employees entering Chicago hospitals and clinics would no longer be hounded by “in-your-face” abortion protests, thanks to a protective zone established today by a divided City Council.

Thirteen aldermen voted against the ordinance, many of them Roman Catholics, as demonstrators gathered outside City Hall and chanted in the hallway outside the Council chambers.

The “no” votes were cast by Aldermen James Balcer (11th); Frank Olivo (13th); Edward Burke (14th); Lona Lane (18th); Ginger Rugai (19th); Willie Cochran (20th); Michael Zalewski (23rd); Ariel Reboyras (30th); Ray Suarez (31st); John Rice (36th); Marge Laurino (39th); Brian Doherty (41st) and Pat Levar (45th).

“If the ACLU is against it and the Catholic church is against it, why should I vote in favor of it?” Burke said.

Asked whether his Catholic faith influenced his decision, Burke said, “I listen to what the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago says, and it’s one element of my decision-making process. But, it’s also clear that, if the ACLU is against it, maybe there’s something flawed with the ordinance itself.”

Doherty said he resents being put in the hot seat on an abortion issue that belongs in the U.S. Supreme Court or the Illinois General Assembly.

“I am pro-life. I do not apologize for that. And I am Roman Catholic. They tried to frame it as a safety issue and it’s not,” Doherty said.

“For them to put this … pro-life, pro-choice issue onto the Catholics that serve on the City Council in the manner that they did was unfair.”

Cochran said pro-life activists have every right to counsel women on their way into abortion clinics in a last-ditch effort to convince them to change their minds.

“People should be given the opportunity to give someone a leaflet,” he said.

The amendment to Chicago’s disorderly conduct ordinance was championed by Ald. Vi Daley (43rd) at the behest of Planned Parenthood.

It creates a protection zone within a 50-ft. radius of the entrance to any hospital, medical clinic or healthcare facility. Within that zone, no one could get closer than 8 feet to pass materials, display signs, protest, educate or counsel another person without their consent.

The Chicago law — which carries a $500 fine — is patterned after an even stricter Colorado law that has already passed muster with the U.S. Supreme Court. In Colorado, the radius is 100 feet.

Pro-life activists have denounced the amendment to Chicago’s disorderly conduct ordinance as a violation of their First amendment rights.

Planned Parenthood countered that there has been a “significant surge in the size and viciousness” of anti-abortion protests since the May 31 murder of Wichita doctor George Tiller, creating the need for a protective bubble.