Colorado’s governor and several Colorado officials are facing a lawsuit over content-based free speech restrictions around abortion clinics, the Center Square and other outlets reported.
“The government may not target life-affirming speech simply because it disagrees with the message. That is unlawful viewpoint discrimination. It should not be a crime to lovingly and compassionately approach another person to tell them about alternatives to abortion,” First Liberty Senior Counsel Roger Byron said in a statement.
Wendy Faustin, represented by First Liberty and Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, filed the lawsuit over Colorado’s law and local ordinances that establish buffer zones around abortion clinics that punish people for engaging in certain forms of speech.
The law criminalizes approaching a person within a buffer zone outside an abortion clinic to offer counseling or advocate for pro-life causes. The buffer zone is a 100-foot radius from entryways into clinics. Within that radius, people are barred from approaching others within eight feet to distribute literature, display signs, educate, or counsel, as First Liberty explains.
Faustin’s attorneys say these laws were adopted with the intent targeting pro-life speech in particular. They say that targeting disfavored speech in such a manner is unconstitutional on its face as blatant viewpoint discrimination.