reproductive health clinics. two years after that photo was taken, a clinic escort who was working in the south, a man named james barrett, retired as a lieutenant colonel from the u.s. army, he was shot to death in pensacola, florida, outside a clinic there as he was trying to escort the clinic s doctor outside of that facility past a group of protesters. both the doctor, dr. johnbritton and working to escort him into the clinic, retired colonel, james barrett, both of them were killed and others were wounded in that shooting. then six months later, a young man named john salvi shot seven people at two abortion clinics in brookline, massachusetts. he killed two of the people he shot. wounded five others. some of the people who were witnesses to that shooting were people there at the clinic working as clinic escorts because of the hostile and intimidating and occasionally violent intense protests that had been happening regularly outside of those clinics. that day when john salvi went
people killed and the five people wounded in that onslaught that day, in massachusetts they tried their own massachusetts version of that colorado law, but the protests were so vociferous, local police said it was not a workable law for them. in testimony before the massachusetts legislature, seven years into massachusetts trying to enforce their version of the sort of bubble law, the man who s now boston s commissioner of police told the legislature the floating bubble law was basically impossible for police to enforce outside massachusetts clinics. he said, i like to make the reference of basketball referee down there. we re watching feet. watching hands. he said it was impossible to enforce. that year that he made that testimony, 2007, massachusetts changed its law basically to make the whole thing simpler. and in massachusetts now, there is a yellow line painted on the ground outside clinic entrances. it marks a fixed zone. a fixed space. 35 feet from the clinic entrance
settings and activities, they have been able to see that the first amendment can be protected and respected alongside protection and respect for other things that people have a right to do. after all these murders and shootings and people bolting their necks into i beams to block access to abortion clinics over the past 20, 25 years, to terrorize and kill people who work at those clinics, cities and states around the country have tried to find that same balance as well. in 2000, the court, supreme court, upheld a colorado rule that calls for basically an eight-foot bubble around anybody going into a health clinic. it s not a fixed space. it s basically an imaginary bubble that moves with you where people can t get closer to you than eight feet if you don t want them to. if you re trying to get into a clinic. they can still scream at you and show you pictures you don t want to see and berate you and all the stuff they may want to do, but they can t physically get closer to you than ei
patients came in and got their health care. we re going be open tomorrow, be open saturday, and patients are going to get their health care. we also have tremendous support from our local police departments. so i was in touch with them today, and we know we will have increased law enforcement presence at our health centers, but that s not really a long-term solution. you don t want to solve this problem by having police there constantly when women are coming in for health care. what we re doing is reviewing the laws that are already on the books that we might be able to use, as well as what new laws we might be able to craft. we have great support from our governor deval patrick and attorney general martha coakley as well as our legislative leadership. so everyone today said, all right, let s read the decision and let s find out what the answer is and what law might be constitutional and let s get that law through the legislature. marty walz, president of the planned parenthood leagu
we also have tremendous support from our local police departments. so i was in touch with them today, and we know we will have increased law enforcement presence at our health centers, but that s not really a long-term solution. you don t want to solve this problem by having police there constantly when women are coming in for health care. what we re doing is reviewing the laws that are already on the books that we might be able to use, as well as what new laws we might be able to craft. we have great support from our governor deval patrick and attorney general martha coakley as well as our legislative leadership. so everyone today said, all right, let s read the decision and let s find out what the answer is and what law might be constitutional and let s get that law through the legislature. marty walz, president of the planned parenthood league of massachusetts, and author of that law that was striked down today by the supreme court, the 2007 law. my pleasure. thank you. a lo