A Fresno anti-abortion group won a legal victory this weekend after claiming a state law related to COVID-19 vaccine violated the group’s right to free speech.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California ruled Saturday that Senate Bill 742, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, likely discriminated against Right to Life of Central California’s outreach to women, granting a temporary restraining order to prevent its enforcement while the lawsuit moves forward.
Right to Life of Central California sued California Attorney Rob Bonta over SB 742, intended to protect those getting the COVID-19 vaccine from being harassed. The law specifies that it is “unlawful to approach within 30 feet of any person while a person is within 100 feet of the entrance or exit of a vaccination site and is seeking to enter or exit a vaccination site.”
But the legislation indiscriminately applied to all vaccines, including HPV - something opponents of the bill have argued was “too broad”, the Associated Press reported.
The nonprofit’s outreach center sits directly next to a Planned Parenthood location, which administers the HPV vaccine, according to the Sacramento Bee.
The group claimed its workers outside the Planned Parenthood location to provide those who going inside the facility with pamphlets on “alternatives” to abortion.
Under SB742, people are banned from handing out pamphlets, approaching people, and hoisting signs without someone’s consent within the “buffer zone.” Furthermore, it prohibits anyone from physically preventing someone from going inside a building.
In court, the state Attorney General’s office argued the law had minimal effect on the nonprofit’s free speech. However, Denise Harle, the lawyer who represented the nonprofit, said the court recognized the law’s “double standard. “
“The court rightly acknowledged SB 742’s double standard in restricting pro-life outreach while permitting other types of speech, such as picketing about a labor dispute,” Harle told the Sacramento Bee. “We are thankful Right to Life’s staff and volunteers can continue their critical mission of serving vulnerable women in the central California region with their free, life-giving services.”
Also on Saturday, U.S. District Judge Dale Drozd ruled that the law’s “30-foot limit” was too restrictive for “the law’s uncommon definition of ‘harassing,’” according to the Associated Press. He issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the state from implementing the “harassing” part of the law.
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