PA (Pittsburgh) proposed safety zones

[yasmina27]

There is a proposal in Pittsburgh to enact a safety zone in front of PPhood clinics barring protesters from a certain distance from the front of clinics and entering clients.

After reading the online LTTE's in the local PG papers, I couldn't help but make the analogy about these proposed protest-free zones.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05337/616698.stm

If a free-speech zone is appropriate for *, why can't women exercising their legal rights be entitled to the same "bubble" of protection from whackos?

I am thinking about a LTTE with this argument, but wonder if my thinking is on the right track? Looking for constructive input.

Thanks!

[Sinistrous]

1. Analogies are a tough sell.

There is an old saying that "All analogies are flawed." You have to realize that the coat-hanger brigades have insulated themselves from reason, so you are not going to reach them with a rational argument.

That said, your best approach would be to focus on those specific features of presidential exclusion zones that are identical to the proposed abortion clinic exclusion zones. Avoid generalities. These give the opposition a clear shot at framing the argument around the differences between the two kind of exclusion zones and drowning out the discussion of the similarities.

When composing your letter, I suggest that you make two lists, each listing the purposes, characteristics, legal justifications, enforcement issues, etc. of each type of exclusion zone. Then select the items that are common to both lists and hammer away at those.

I hope this is of some help.

Sinistrous

[politicat]

2. Clinic Privacy Zones are a godsend....

I'm so glad Colorado has them - I don't have to be a clinic escort anymore for the most part.

But... without them, the big issue is that the patient loses her HIPPA rights. She is forced to share her medical needs with others, because women going into a clinic may be going in to pick up pills, a diaphragm, have an ultrasound for something other than a pregnancy (ovarian cysts and the like...), be fitted for an IUD... but all of the people outside protesting and trying to get her attention are making assumptions about her medical conditions. That's a violation of HIPPA - if it's illegal to overhear someone talking to the pharmacist about how to use wart cream, it's illegal to harass someone about a presumptive diagnosis who is going into a medical clinic.

The problem with your analogy is the reverse: free speech zones are wrong for *, so clinic privacy zones are wrong for women entering family planning clinics. Since many of us feel that free speech zones are an abridgement of the First Amendment, then the logic that clinic privacy zones are based on restricting free speech is also an abridgement of Free Speech Rights.

But clinic privacy zones are not based on Free Speech, they're based on privacy. A man going into a urologist for a vasectomy is not subjected to people yelling at him. A child going into an ER to have a bone set is not subjected to Christian Science protesters. A woman going to the podiatrist to get fitted for shoe orthotics during pregnancy is not subjected to harassment for refusing to remain barefoot and pregnant; nor is she harassed by ZPG advocates for not having an abortion.

I know I've told this story on this board before, but as a young teenager, I was subjected to these monsters. My pediatrician shared a building with the GYN who did abortions (at the local hospital, rather than in her office) in Yuma, AZ. At 12, I had a serious case of bronchitis, and going into the building (while feverish and delirious) those monsters shoved their wicked propaganda in my face. In my less than coherent state, I got the idea that my pediatrician killed babies, and (being rather an innocent who had never heard of abortion) it took my mother (fortunately pro-choice) and my pede (also pro-choice) a good hour to get me calmed down and understanding what was going on - it also brought on a coughing fit that cracked a rib... Ever since, I've despised such behavior and have no respect at all for such wicked, evil people. Clinic privacy zones save not just the patient, but any one who has any reason to be in the area from sharing medical information with strangers.

[oddmanout]

3. The measure passed

But I fear that it will be challenged to death in court...


:dem: