Supreme Court declines to review Carbondale abortion clinic ‘bubble
zone’ ordinance
[March 01, 2025]
By Carly Gist and The Saluki Local Reporting Lab
CARBONDALE — The U.S. Supreme Court this week declined to review a case
challenging a since-repealed Carbondale ordinance intended to create a
buffer between anti-abortion activists and those seeking reproductive
care.
Carbondale officials declined to comment and have given no indication
they plan to reinstate the ordinance, though anti-abortion activists
vowed to fight it again if they do.
The case, Coalition Life v. City of Carbondale, sat on the Supreme
Court’s schedule for four months before justices declined to take it up,
effectively ending the case.
After the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision ending
federal abortion protection, Republican-led states tightened abortion
restrictions, while Illinois moved in the opposite direction, becoming a
safe haven for abortion services. Three clinics opened in Carbondale, a
small southern Illinois college town with direct access to multiple
southern and Midwestern states and an Amtrak stop.
Carbondale quickly became one of the closest options for patients
traveling from across the region — but it also drew anti-abortion
protesters and self-described sidewalk counselors who aim to dissuade
women from seeking abortions.
During a January 2023 Carbondale City Council meeting, residents and
abortion rights activists decried what they called disruptive behavior
outside clinics as patients and staff tried to enter. The council then
voted unanimously to amend its disorderly conduct ordinance, making it
illegal to come within 8 feet of a person without their consent within a
100-foot radius of a medical facility.
Following the enactment of this “buffer zone,” Coalition Life, an
anti-abortion organization based in St. Louis, sued the City of
Carbondale, claiming the ordinance was an infringement on free speech.
Two lower courts had previously dismissed the challenge, citing Hill v.
Colorado, a 2000 Supreme Court ruling that upheld a similar Colorado
law.
In July, Coalition Life petitioned the Supreme Court to review the
Carbondale case in hopes of overturning the Hill decision. Three days
earlier, the Carbondale City Council rescinded the ordinance, but
Coalition Life pressed forward with its petition, saying nothing would
otherwise stop the city from reinstating it.
Though the case did not receive the four votes necessary for a review,
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas wanted to hear it, along with
a similar case from Englewood, New Jersey. Thomas wrote, “a majority of
this Court recently acknowledged that Hill ‘distorted [our] First
Amendment doctrines.’” He noted that several justices have described
Hill as “absurd,” “defunct,” and “erroneous.”
The justices argued that since Dobbs v. Jackson, any justification for
buffer zones has been weakened.
“Hill has been seriously undermined, if not completely eroded, and our
refusal to provide clarity is an abdication of our judicial duty,”
Thomas wrote. “…I would have taken this opportunity to explicitly
overrule Hill. For now, we leave lower courts to sort out what, if
anything, is left of Hill’s reasoning, all while constitutional rights
hang in the balance.”
[to top of second column]
|
Anti-abortion activists display signs and wave at passing cars on a
rainy morning in November in front of CHOICES Center for
Reproductive Health in Carbondale. (Saluki Local Reporting Lab photo
by Carly Gist)
Coalition Life Executive Director Brian Westbrook said this week his
organization is “frustrated that the Supreme Court did not take up the
case” but also is “very thrilled with Justice Thomas’ dissenting
opinion.”
Mayor Carolin Harvey and City Attorney Jamie Snyder declined to comment
on the Supreme Court’s decision not to take up a review.
Regardless, Andrea Gallegos, executive administrator of Alamo Women’s
Clinic, said it represents a win for patients and reproductive care
clinics.
“Anti abortion protestors use harmful rhetoric and impede on patient
privacy and safety everyday,” she said. “Any protections that cities can
provide is vital.”
Over a 2 ½ year period since the Dobbs decision, Carbondale police had
responded to more than 250 calls at the city’s three reproductive health
clinics, according to police records obtained by the Saluki Local
Reporting Lab.
Though some were requests for medical assistance and other miscellaneous
calls, the total included more than 60 reports of public disturbances,
safety concerns and traffic issues, including disorderly conduct,
suspicious activity, people in the roadway and requests for traffic
enforcement. Nearly 100 calls — the vast majority — were requests for
extra police presence around the clinics. Gallegos said safety and
security is at the forefront of Alamo’s values, and the organization
will continue to respect patients’ decisions and provide protections.
“We know that (Coalition Life) and others alike will never stop,” she
said. “We know that they are always planning their next move on the
infringement of the rights of our patients. We will move forward with
continuing to provide care and helping to dismantle their misinformation
campaigns.”
Westbrook said Coalition Life will continue its sidewalk counseling
while monitoring the City Council’s next move.
“The city council should know loud and clear that if they plan to put
yet another bubble zone in place in Carbondale, we will be right back in
court,” he said.
This story was produced for Capitol News Illinois
through the Saluki Local Reporting Lab, supported by grant funding
from the Pulitzer Center, the Illinois Press Foundation and the SIU
Foundation.
Capitol News Illinois is
a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state
government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is
funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R.
McCormick Foundation.
 |
