HB1625, the Sidewalk Free Speech Act had a public hearing in the NH House Judiciary Committee on February 9 and I testified in support of repealing the unconstitutional buffer zone law.
This law allows private abortion businesses to declare up to 25 feet of the public sidewalk and street outside their facilities as no-free-speech zones where even silent prayer is not allowed. This is my follow-up testimony to the committee.
Related: Fight for Everyone’s Right to Stand, Kneel, Pray, and Speak on the Public Sidewalk
Dear Committee Members,
Thank you for allowing me to give testimony in support of HB1625, the Sidewalk Free Speech Act on Wednesday. I am writing to provide additional information in response to questions that I received after my testimony.
As I said in my testimony, there are no buffer zones around abortion facilities in New Hampshire. The law has never been used.
There is a federal law against blocking entrances or driveways to abortion facilities.
The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994 (FACE) makes it a federal crime to physically obstruct the entrance to a clinic or to use force, the threat of force, or physical obstruction, such as a sit-in, to interfere with, injure, or intimidate clinic workers or women seeking abortions or other reproductive health services.
Kayla Montgomery, testifying for PP New Hampshire Action Fund, claimed that there was an incident where the driveway for the Planned Parenthood in Manchester was blocked but when she was asked by Rep. Notter, she was not able to cite a police report.
If such an incident did occur, the FACE Act could have been used to press federal charges. The entire property is under video surveillance so this should be an easy case for the authorities to prosecute if it indeed happened.
I am also providing clarification about the layout of three of the four standalone abortion facilities in New Hampshire. Two of them, Equality Health Center in Concord and Planned Parenthood in Manchester have complained of crowded conditions on the public sidewalks in front of their facilities. While Lovering Health Center in Greenland says they have no problems with those who are praying or offering help. I am including pictures so you can see the layout of these facilities.
The Equality Health Center has no customer parking lot. All their clients have to park on the street and come in through the front door from a crowded sidewalk that must accommodate their group of escorts as well as passersby of their busy downtown location. There is a bump-out from the sidewalk nearby, shown in this picture, that can be used for prayer or to offer help but EHC would rather that the public be blocked from being anywhere on the public sidewalk.
Planned Parenthood in Manchester has a public sidewalk right up against the front of the building. It is a wide sidewalk, providing plenty of room to pray and offer help, but PP does not like having the public so close to their facility.
The Lovering Health Center in Greenland moved from a crowded, downtown location in Portsmouth to a spacious property with a long driveway that provides a built-in buffer between their facility and the public sidewalk. They admit in their volunteer application that they no longer have a need for escorts because of that.
If Equality Health Center and Planned Parenthood moved to a larger property, their issues with crowding on the sidewalk could be solved, too. The public sidewalk is for the public, not for private abortion businesses to control because they don’t wish to invest the resources in buying or leasing a property that accommodates their needs.
Please protect our freedom of speech and vote OTP on HB1625.
