January 24, 2014 - I should have talked about this a week ago, but apparently there's a pending case in the Supreme Court regarding buffer zones outside abortion clinics in Massachusetts. Based on voting history it looks like there are four justices on each side of the issue with probably the best case scenario being they vote to kick the case back down to the lower courts (who have already ruled in favor of the buffer zones) in order to avoid making this a polarizing issue in the upcoming midterm elections as this case won't be decided until June, but if they rule against the buffer zones it may just galvanize pro-choice supporters in the mid-terms. I'll let you read the article. I feel that in general such demonstrators are poorly informed of the realities that force women to abort and would rather see initiatives getting them involved elsewhere than protesting abortion providers (who i'd like to see transition to being predominantly hospitals, but NOT at the expense of prematurely closing clinics) rather than imposing buffer zones to keep them away. But to be fair until those initiatives can take effect, buffer zones are a bit of a necessary safety issue.

-D