CITY HALL

Louisville Metro Council committee advances 'buffer zone' for health care facilities

Darcy Costello
Louisville Courier Journal

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Legislation that would allow health care facilities, including abortion clinics, to create "buffer zones" outside their entrances to preserve access to services is one step closer to reality. 

The Louisville Metro Council's Community Affairs, Health and Education Committee voted 4-2 along partisan lines Wednesday to send the ordinance to the full Metro Council for its consideration, after more than two hours of discussion. 

The legislation, which has been called for by advocates for several years, was made more urgent by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to sponsors who spoke at Wednesday's committee meeting. 

Councilwoman Jessica Green, D-1st District, said the ordinance shouldn't be a debate about abortion because it is legal and "makes sense right now" because it has become a safety and public health issue. 

People "have a basic human right to be able to receive treatment without being barraged, touched or infected with a fatal disease," Green said. 

Others, however, accused the sponsors of using the pandemic to pass the legislation. 

Background:Will Louisville create a buffer zone at its abortion clinic? What to know

"It just seems kind of disingenuous that COVID is actually being used to push this through — with everything going on in the city right now as far as public safety and protest and disorder that actually is being tolerated," said Councilwoman Marilyn Parker, R-18th District.

Democrats Barbara Shanklin, D-2nd; Kevin Triplett, D-15th; Pat Mulvihill D-10th and Green voted in favor of the ordinance, while Republicans Stuart Benson, R-20th, and Parker were against it. 

Under the ordinance, all facilities that provide medical services could opt to create a 12-foot-wide buffer zone extending from entrances to the closest street curb — made clear with paint or lines marking the zone and a sign stating: "Healthcare facility: No standing or obstructions within this zone."

People would be prohibited from entering, remaining on or creating obstructions in the buffer zone during the facility's business hours, with a few exceptions for licensees, invitees, people using the sidewalk "solely for the purpose of reaching a destination other than such a facility," law enforcement, emergency services and other city employees or facility employees on work business.

A first violation would prompt a written warning, under the legislation. A second would lead to a citation and a fine between $100 and $500. 

In a news release after the committee's vote, the state director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Indiana and Kentucky applauded the move. 

"No one should have to push their way through protesters to access the care they need," said Tamarra Wieder, the organization's Kentucky state director. "This common sense legislation is long overdue and we are one step closer to providing the protections necessary for patients as they enter and exist medical facilities.

"Permanent safety zones are common across the country and it is time the City of Louisville got on board. It should be the mission of all community leaders to increase access to care, especially during a global pandemic, and this is a step forward in that direction," she said.

Earlier:Abortion clinic seeks to protect clients from surge of protests amid pandemic

Two failed amendments would have tweaked the legislation to allow invited people to enter the buffer zone to distribute information or have short conversation, or to require that health facilities that fall under this ordinance have paid private security. 

Though council members said the legislation was being proposed and advanced, in part due to the "seriousness" of the COVID-19 crisis, sponsor Councilman Brandon Coan, D-9th, said the buffer zone legislation wouldn't go away when the pandemic leaves. 

"Just because the pandemic highlights the urgency of the need for it doesn't mean when the pandemic goes away, it's not needed anymore. It just means that it's needed now," Coan said.

Louisville had a temporary 15-by-7-1/2-foot buffer zone placed around the entrance of the EMW Women's Surgical Center in 2017 by a federal judge during Operation Save America's weeklong meeting held in the city that July. 

That same year, a Metro Council committee heard arguments on both sides of the idea of creating a buffer zone in city ordinance, but no formal proposal was filed.

Council members who spoke against the ordinance on Wednesday, including a few who are not on the committee, raised concerns about the police resources it might take to enforce the law and whether it would stand up to a legal challenge.

Some also questioned whether there was a history of obstruction or interference at other health care facilities, aside from the EMW clinic. 

See also:Metro Government sues to block council subpoenas in protest inquiry

In response to a question from Parker, Assistant Jefferson County Attorney Natalie Johnson said she believed that the legislation met the constitutional requirements needed, but did note that it would ultimately depend on the judge's decision. 

Cities that have passed similar buffer zones include Oakland, Sacramento and San Francisco, California; Chicago; and Burlington, Vermont; as well as less liberal-leaning areas, such as Jackson, Mississippi; Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and Columbus, Ohio. 

Coan, too, noted that similar buffer or safety zones exist across the country with varying sizes and shapes. He said the Metro Council chose 12 feet based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations about social distancing. 

Assistant Chief Josh Judah from LMPD was unable to provide information on crime or issues at other health care facilities, but did say that police have a "major issue" with disturbances at downtown hospitals when it comes to shooting victims being brought into emergency rooms. 

The idea behind creating buffer zones, sponsors stressed, would not be to have police stationed outside health care facilities enforcing it. Instead, it would become a rule that could prompt a police call if violations occurred. 

That didn't satisfy everyone.

Councilwoman Cindi Fowler, D-14th, who asked whether sponsors planned to pay for LMPD overtime to cover police response, questioned whether the legislation was "creating more instances that they're going to have to be called out on a run." 

"We have to pay out overtime, in order to get basic needs taken care of in our district," said Fowler, who expressed frustration at having to use her district funds to cover police overtime to get more enforcement in her southwestern Louisville district. "We all know how much we need more officers, and we don't have them."

The legislation will be sent to "old business" on the council's meeting agenda, meaning it will likely come up for discussion before its vote by all 26 members.

Earlier:Donations pour in for abortion clinic following vandalism during protests

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/darcyc.