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Fast Facts
Protection from Clinic Violence
Why are specific laws needed to address violence directed at reproductive health care providers and their patients? |
Women's painful, real-world experiences have shown that general laws prohibiting violence and intimidation do not provide sufficient protection against the unlawful and often violent tactics used by some opponents of abortion rights. Laws protecting abortion providers and patients from violence and intimidation are critical to preserving the right to choose. The federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE), and similar state clinic protection laws, provide this important protection. |
CURRENT STATE LAWS16 states and the District of Columbia have laws that protect health care facilities, providers, and/or patients from blockades, harassment, and/or other violence: CA, CO, CT, DC, KS, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MT, NV, NY, NC, OR, WA, WI.
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CURRENT FEDERAL LAWSThe Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE) provides civil remedies and criminal penalties for a range of violent, obstructive, or threatening conduct directed at reproductive health providers or patients. Courts repeatedly have upheld the law as constitutional, and experts credit FACE as a significant factor in reducing clinic violence. |
2007 STATE LEGISLATION5 states considered 5 measures that would protect reproductive health providers and patients from violence and intimidation: MA, NJ, NY, RI, VT.
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Massachusetts enacted a measure that expands the protected area around reproductive health facilities operating in the state. The new law establishes a fixed 35-foot buffer zone around the entrances and driveways of all such facilities, nearly doubling the size of the 18-foot buffer zone that had been in effect since 2000. |
| For a map of all states with Protection from Clinic Violence - click here. | |
