Brian Ingalls is a regular outside the Planned Parenthood abortion facility in Portland, Maine.
But now, the state of Maine is taking legal action against the young pro-lifer, accusing him of “disrupting health care services,” The Washington Times Reports.
Attorney General Janet Mills told the news outlet Tuesday that the 26-year-old violated Planned Parenthood patients’ rights on Oct. 23 when his voice carried to the second floor of the abortion facility and interfered with “the delivery of health care services.” Police had told Ingalls not to yell so loudly, but he did not stop, according to the report.
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The lawsuit would prevent Ingalls from coming within 50 feet of the Planned Parenthood facility. He also could face fines of up to $5,000 for each violation.
According to the Main Civil Rights Act, it is a violation to intentionally make noise at a volume that can be heard within a medical facility, the report states.
The Thomas More Law Center, which is representing Ingalls, called the case “unprecedented.”
“For reasons that can only be described as politically motivated, the Attorney General has transformed an unverified noise complaint by Planned Parenthood into a civil rights complaint against a young Christian pro-life advocate,” the law firm said in a press release.
Erin Kuenzig, trial counsel for the firm, said, “The Attorney General’s baseless pro-abortion tactic seeks to silence pro-life speech. Such biased action by a state’s chief law enforcement officer is not only unconstitutional, but it also corrupts the entire justice system.”
The Attorney General’s complaint relies solely on Planned Parenthood’s complaint to the Portland Police Department alleging that Ingalls could be heard inside of the building, according to the press release.
The lawsuit comes just after pro-lifers in Portland won a battle against a city buffer zone ordinance.
At the urging of Planned Parenthood, the Portland City Council enacted the 39-foot “buffer zone” in November 2013, LifeNews previously reported. The ordinance created a prohibited speech zone around the entire building that houses Planned Parenthood’s abortion clinic. As is typical throughout the nation, the abortion industry giant sought to silence pro-life opposition, and the consequent threat to its substantial profits, by shutting down the Free Speech rights of pro-life sidewalk counselors.
The Thomas More Law Center filed a lawsuit to stop the Maine city’s unconstitutional restriction of pro-life speech; and a judge later struck down the ordinance.
An agreement reached on Oct. 8 in U.S. District Court requires the city to pay $56,500 in legal fees to pro-lifers, according to the Bangor Daily News.
On June 26, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court also unanimously declared a similar 35-foot buffer zone statute in Massachusetts unconstitutional because it violated pro-lifers’ freedom of speech.
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