Planned Parenthood Pushes Radical Law Prohibiting Pro-Life Free Speech in Vermont

State   |   Sarah Zagorski   |   Sep 1, 2014   |   10:58AM   |   Burlington, VT

Planned Parenthood’s at it again–trying to criminalize and prohibit free speech by proposing that pro-life protestors stay away from their abortion facility in Vermont.

Earlier this week, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England drafted an updated version to the defunct Burlington zone ordinance and sent it to the City Council Ordinance Committee. The previous Burlington buffer zone prohibited anyone from gathering or demonstrating within 35 feet of an abortion facility. The old draft also proposed to impose jail times or fines to anyone who violates the law. However, the City Council struck that provision after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in June that a similar law in Massachusetts was unconstitutional. Now, the abortion giant is asking for an eight-foot buffer zone instead.

plannedparenthood112Planned Parenthood claims that their interest is to keep women safe, but by imposing buffer zones on pro-lifers, women won’t hear the truth about abortion before they make the life changing decision to kill their unborn baby. The New England proposal is similar to the Massachusetts buffer zone law in that, if enacted, protestors won’t be able to have quiet conversations with women entering clinics to tell them that their are alternatives. These conversations hurt Planned Parenthood financially because some women change their mind about abortion after talking with pro-lifers.

American’s United for Life addressed why the buffer zone law is absurd in a previous report to LifeNews:“It is absurd that an abortion clinic employee, under the law, is allowed to approach women on the public sidewalk and say anything. However, our client, 40 Days for Life, cannot on that same public sidewalk offer, “I can help you” or even stand and pray without facing criminal penalties. Even if a woman consents to listen or wants to hear what 40 Days has to say on that public sidewalk, that communication is not allowed by the draconian Massachusetts law.”

Thankfully, the Supreme Court found that this law was inconsistent with the first amendment. This decision should alert Planned Parenthood affiliates to the reality that they cannot take away our rights as U.S. citizens. But with Planned Parenthood ranking in 137 million dollars of abortion income annually, they don’t want a few peaceful protestors to get in their way. This is also why they spend so much time lying about their services, such as their claim that abortion accounts for only three 3% of what they do. Abby Johnson, a former clinic director, said the following about that claim:

Click here to sign up for daily pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com

“Planned Parenthood’s claim that abortions make up just 3 percent of its services is a gimmick. That number is actually closer to 12 percent, but strategically skewed by unbundling family planning services so that each patient shows anywhere from five to 20 “visits” per appointment (i.e., 12 packs of birth control equals 12 visits) and doing the opposite with abortion visits, bundling them together so that each appointment equals one visit. The resulting difference between family planning and abortion “visits” is striking.”

Hopefully, Vermont will continue to protect free speech, just like Massachusetts, and deny Planned Parenthood’s new proposal. This would allow citizens to share the truth about abortion and expose the largest abortion business in America.