Activists ask Raleigh leaders for buffer zones, noise rules around abortion clinics
Abortion-rights advocates called on the Raleigh City Council on Tuesday night to expand protections for people seeking to terminate their pregnancies..
The activists spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting held at the Raleigh Municipal Building downtown Raleigh.
“North Carolina does not have any trigger laws, and Republicans in the N.C. General Assembly do not have plans to try to pass laws restricting abortion in N.C. due to Roy Cooper’s veto power,” said Kristen Havlik.
“But N.C. Republicans are two seats away from achieving the 30-seat supermajority in the legislature,” she continued. If that happens in 2022 or 2024, a bill that bans abortion when a heartbeat is detected could come back, she said.
“Making ‘blue’ cities ‘safe havens’ for abortion and decriminalizing abortion would create spaces for people to seek safe abortions in NC,” Havlik told the council.
City Attorney Robin Tatum responded to each of the group’s demands and confirmed some rules could be put in place.
“There are certain regulations that a city can potentially legally enact that relate to activities at reproductive care clinics,” she said during the meeting. “However, a lot of times the activities that people are asking you to regulate are protected by the First Amendment. And as we know, we can’t pass laws that are not consistent with the Constitution.”
Tara Romano, executive director of Pro-Choice North Carolina, said the advocates had reached out to her statewide organization for support and it is working to connect them to local abortion providers.
“It helps to at least chip away at this stigma,” she said of the advocates’ demands. “Even though it can be a hard road to try and sometimes get those things they are asking for.”
The demands
The advocates want the city to:
- Add a buffer zone around reproductive care clinics
- Issue an additional noise ordinance around reproductive care clinics
- Tell the Raleigh Police Department not to collect internet data of people who use apps to track their menstrual cycles.
- Tell the Raleigh Police Department not to cooperate with investigations of people who have sought medical care for miscarriages and abortions.
- Ensure health care workers don’t “violate the privacy of people reporting a miscarriage, should abortion be outlawed” in the state.
- Bar zoning measures that allow “crisis pregnancy centers” to be located across from “legitimate reproductive care clinics.”
Many of the demands are in light of the draft U.S. Supreme Court ruling that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the court’s 1973 ruling legalizing abortion. But others have a history in Raleigh and other cities in North Carolina.
Charlotte approved a controversial noise ordinance that limits sound amplification near abortion clinics, and earlier this year Durham approved a resolution proclaiming the city a “Reproductive Freedom City.”
Raleigh was sued by Hand of Hope Pregnancy Resource Center after the City Council denied the group’s request for a rezoning that would have let it move into a house next to A Preferred Women’s Health Center, which offers abortions.
The city and Hand of Hope eventually reached a settlement with Raleigh that included the city paying the religious, anti-abortion services group $25,000.
Several anti-abortion speakers called on the City Council to make Raleigh a “sanctuary city for the unborn” during meetings in 2019. One instance went viral when a teenager who spoke against abortion services clashed with people who were in the audience.
City response
Buffer zones and noise ordinances around clinics have been upheld by the courts, Tatum said.
“We’ve considered this in the past and are glad to do that again,” she said. “But that will take a more in-depth kind of investigation by our office.”
Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin asked Tatum if buffers and noise rules were something the city was “currently working on.”
“Yes, we need to work with the clinics on that, the local clinics,” Tatum said. “We need to work with them hand in hand and would like to continue to do that.”
The News & Observer sought clarification Wednesday, emailing Tatum to confirm whether the city is working on noise and buffer rules, how far along the work is and if there is a draft ordinance, and if city has begun working with clinics on the rules.
She declined to comment.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Tatum said police officers must follow the law and the city can’t take any “steps that would run afoul of that.” The city also doesn’t have jurisdiction over health care providers but they are bound by privacy laws.
“With respect to the ability to keep pregnancy centers (and) not let them be close to abortion clinics, we absolutely cannot do that,” Tatum said. “We have already had litigation about that and entered into a settlement agreement. And so we have, I guess, been there and done that.”
This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 3:33 PM.
