Chicago aldermen move to establish quiet zone around downtown abortion clinic

CHICAGO — Following anti-abortion protests and alleged “attempts to harass and intimidate women seeking health care services” at a downtown abortion clinic, aldermen moved Monday to create a new “noise sensitive zone” in the streets surrounding the facility.

The City Council’s Public Safety Committee voted to bar protesters from using a bullhorn, loudspeaker or hitting a drum or other object “to produce a sharp percussive noise so as to interfere with the functions” of Family Planning Associates clinic.

Two aldermen voted against the proposal, citing concerns about protesters’ rights and how officials would decide whether protests crossed a line.

The ordinance from Alderman Bill Conway, 34th, follows what he said were multiple noise complaints about loud and disruptive anti-abortion protesters at the clinic, including from nearby residents as well as FPA clinical staff. The clinic offers abortion care and other gynecological services.

Some of those protests have included “sound amplifiers so loud it was difficult for clinicians to hear patients inside,” Conway said in a release, in addition to reported incidents where protesters rushed at patients and volunteers walking them in, attempting to hand them religious pamphlets.

That behavior sometimes crossed the line of the city’s current “bubble” ordinance, Conway said. That rule makes it illegal to “engage in unwanted communication” — including protesting, leafleting or trying to provide education and counseling — “within 8 feet of someone in a 50-foot radius from the entrance of a medical facility.”

Conway and the latest proposal’s proponents say the disruptive protests are making it even more difficult to render care.

“We’ve put up some ... additional signage to warn of penalties for violating the bubble ordinance. We’ve worked with our local police commander to provide extra law enforcement on Saturdays and these things have helped a bit,” Conway said.

But louder protests have since ensued, with speakers placed “against the building or right next to the building … and I’ve been inside while this is going on … you can literally feel the building shake as a result of this. This is amplified intimidation.”

FPA’s medical director, Dr. Allison Cowett, asked aldermen to “try to imagine doing your job with a rally, a concert or block party happening 8 feet from your office wall. Now imagine that you’re seeing your doctor. And these events make it hard for you to focus on the critical information your medical provider is conveying or even to hear them at all,”

“This is the situation at our clinic, where demonstrators set up a stage outside our building, and use megaphones, microphones and speakers to amplify speeches, music and chants,” Cowett said.

The measure now heads to the full City Council.

If passed, the city’s Transportation Department would post signs designating the noise sensitive zone’s boundaries between roughly West Washington Boulevard, Des Plaines Avenue, Madison Street and the ramps to Interstate 90/94. Violations could garner a fine of $300 for a first offense and up to $1,000 for a third or subsequent offense within a one-year period.

Two members of the committee voted against the proposal over concerns about subjective enforcement. Alderman Chris Taliaferro, 29th, said he wanted to know whether noise needed to reach a specific decibel to violate the policy.

And Ald Nick Sposato, 38th, said, “We have a thing here called the First Amendment.”

“I know many of these rallies or protests are quite obnoxious and everything,” Sposato said. “And I’ve seen many out-of-control ones, but I’ve never really heard of us before saying you have to tone down … you can’t yell. You can’t use a megaphone.”

Such quiet zones already exist around the city’s hospitals, including Northwestern Memorial and Lurie Children’s downtown, city officials said. Aldermen can also request similar zones around health care facilities, schools or libraries.

“Let me be clear, I am in no way saying that these demonstrators don’t have a right to lift their voices outside our clinic as long as they adhere to the bubble zone ordinance,” Cowett said.

“Their speech is free. But the excessive noise caused by this speech does have consequences. It impedes the peace of mind of our patients entering the clinic and waiting for their appointments in our reception area. It interferes with communication between patients and their providers. It impinges on the focus of staffers doing medical procedures and administrative tasks.”

Aldermen also began talks Monday about whether to keep funding the city’s $31.5 million guaranteed income program.

Launched by Mayor Lori Lightfoot using federal COVID-19 recovery money, it offered monthly, no-strings-attached $500 payments to 5,000 individuals whose family income fell at or below 250% of the federal poverty level.

Officials with the city’s Department of Family and Support Services testified Monday they considered the pilot a success. And Alderman Gilbert Villegas, 36th — who first proposed a similar program years ago — said he hopes the city can find unallocated federal funding to pay for another round.

“We know these programs work and these investments work. So that’s why I’m passionate about making sure that we’re helping lift up those families that just need that little bit of assistance,” he said.

The University of Chicago’s Inclusive Economy Lab is analyzing the pilot’s impact, and initial results show participants largely reported spending the money on rent or housing and paying for utilities, officials said.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has expressed support for a continuation of the program but did not put any city money aside for its extension in his 2024 budget plan.

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