A city ordinance aimed at restricting the extent of pro-life demonstrations outside of Mississippi’s lone abortion clinic has been repealed in Jackson.
The Jackson City Council voted Tuesday to repeal a local ordinance that limited amplified noise and prevented pro-life activists from engaging in sidewalk counseling outside of Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
The vote came in response to a lawsuit filed last year against Jackson officials by the Mississippi Justice Institute on behalf of the pro-life group Sidewalk Advocates for Life.
MJI Director Aaron Rice said in a statement that he considered the vote “a major victory for free speech for Jackson and the state of Mississippi.”
“We are pleased that the city of Jackson has decided to do the right thing and end this unconstitutional restriction on free expression,” stated Rice.
Diane Derzis, the owner of the Jackson clinic, told the Associated Press that she opposes the decision and contends that the city council was “not willing to do the right thing.”
“[City officials are] not willing to do it for the women who walk in that door or the women who work in the clinic or the people who walk on the street or the businesses that are nearby,” said Derzis.
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SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Gryboski
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