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Abortion logic
In fact, her point justifies the need for a bubble zone. Current harassment laws don't protect women from protesters who hassle them, surround them and thrust materials in their pockets.
Prosecution for harassment requires repetition of the crime: You've got to be followed, even after you've told your pursuer to "Go away," many times for it to count as harassment.
For obvious reasons, the protesters don't often use this pattern of harassment with the same women more than once or twice. Women who are on their way to terminate a pregnancy are unlikely to skip their medical appointment in order to contact the police, as the process of arrest and deposition can take a long time.
Instead, patients fill out incident reports. The large volume of these reports, coupled with the fact that the Downtown police visited the Downtown clinic 22 times in only six months, shows the need for an ordinance.
City Council clearly wants to protect people Downtown from harassment. They should not deny that protection to women.
Erika Fricke
Lawrenceville
