Washington, DC – This week, Democrats For Life of America filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, supporting the freedom of pro-life sidewalk counselors to continue to offer alternatives to women seeking abortions. The case, McCullen v. Coakley, involves a Massachusetts law that imposes a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinic entryways and driveways, violating the First Amendment rights of counselors to communicate information about support and alternatives and the right of women willing to receive such information.

 

“We often hear in the political battlefield about the protecting a women’s right to choose,” said Day.  “Many women who visit clinics do not think there is an option other than abortion.  The petitioners offer financial support, food, housing, health care and other information and support to provide women with a real choice.”

 

 

 

The brief was joined by Clergy for Better Choices, a network of pastors and church leaders concerned about the high abortion rates in the New York City metropolitan area, especially among minority communities.  The brief emphasizes studies that indicate that a significant number of women seek abortion with ambivalence and are driven to abortion because of concerns about “personal finances, housing, health care, and lack of parenting training.”  Studies also show that poor women are over-represented among those having abortions.