A judge on Thursday rejected a motion to dismiss a legal challenge against an antiabortion-rights protester for disruptive behavior outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Portland, Maine, the Portland Press Herald reports (Dolan, Portland Press Herald, 3/18).
Background
The lawsuit follows the Portland City Council's 2014 decision to strike down an ordinance that placed a 39-foot buffer zone around the Planned Parenthood clinic. The council overturned the buffer zone legislation after the Supreme Court struck down a similar law in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit states that the protester, Brian Ingalls, violated the state's Civil Rights Act because his protests disrupted others' access to health care services. Ingalls is a frequent protester outside the clinic, and the lawsuit states that he persisted in yelling even after police asked him to lower his voice.
Under the state's Civil Rights Act, patients have the right to access "safe and effective" health care services without being interrupted by disruptive noise. Maine Attorney General Janet Mills (D), who filed the lawsuit, is asking the court to order Ingalls to stay at least 50 feet away from Planned Parenthood clinics and to fine him as much as $5,000 for violating the state law.
Justice Lance Walker heard arguments regarding the motion to dismiss the challenge on March 11.
Stephen Whiting, Ingalls' attorney, argued that Ingalls' right to free speech under federal law outweighs a woman's right to access health care under state law. Whiting -- who said he helped draft the state's Civil Rights Act --- also argued the court should dismiss the case because Whiting and his colleagues never intended the law to apply "to street preaching or other speech activity."
However, Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin said, "We're [suing] Mr. Ingalls because of how loud he is [protesting] and because of the impact he is having on the counselor who is trying to provide patients with important information about the procedures that they are going to undergo, the releases they need to sign and the decisions they need to make about their healthcare." She noted, "When he disturbs the medical care, that's when he goes over the line" (Women's Health Policy Report, 3/15).
Judge denies motion to dismiss
In his order denying the motion to dismiss the challenge, Walker rejected as premature Whiting's arguments that the Attorney General's Office misapplied the Maine Civil Rights Act and failed to identify patients or staff members who were harmed by the protests.
Walker wrote, "The courts do not require at the initial pleading stage the molecular level of detail that Mr. Ingalls contends the absence of which should result in a dismissal." He added, "While these issues may be presented by motion for summary judgment or at trial in order to put the state to its proof, they are prematurely presented in a motion to dismiss" (Portland Press Herald, 3/18).
