Late afternoon yesterday, Planned Parenthood's new Buffer Zone bill, (SD) 2106, was filed. The Judiciary Committee will take testimony tomorrow, Wednesday, at 10 am in Gardner Auditorium. We expect testimony will not go much past three. Obviously, they will vote to report it out as soon as the testimony is over.
We need to prepare to testify. This bill is worse than the one just overturned. Our lawyers say that, in order to appeal successfully, we need a lot of testimony on the record. That is where we come in.
We need to say the law is not needed, that Massachusetts has not arrested anyone outside a clinic in at least 20 years. Most of all we need to say that this new law is so scary we would be afraid to go near a clinic to try to help a woman. You can read the law at http://masscitizensforlife.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/New-Buffer-Zone-Bill.pdf
If I "detain" a woman to give her literature, I could face big fines and jail. Who decides if I am detaining? It looks as though the people in PP could decide. The state looked dumb when it passed the unconstitutional Buffer Zone. It will look totally deranged when it passes this new one.
Please plan on 10 am in Gardner Auditorium. For once it will be okay to arrive a bit late. Individuals have three minutes to speak and members of panels (3 or 4 people) have two minutes each. I will let you know any new developments. If you are not able to testify in person, please prepare something written to email to the House Committee Chair before 9 am in the morning, Christopher.Markey@mahouse.gov
As always, mighty thanks!
Anne
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