Clearwater weighs options after ruling on abortion clinic buffer zone

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A buffer zone is still in effect at a Clearwater abortion clinic following a court’s ruling last week that it shouldn’t be enforced. 

The city of Clearwater passed a law in 2023 that prohibited pedestrians from entering or crossing the driveway of the Bread and Roses Woman’s Health Center. Police said they had safety concerns for cars coming and going when protesters gathered at the site.

The nonprofit Florida Preborn Rescue filed a complaint. While their request that the buffer not be enforced was originally denied, an appeals court just reversed that. 

“The district court denied the motion, holding that the plaintiffs were unlikely to succeed on the merits. We disagree,” the opinion from the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals reads. “We hold that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment challenge and that the district court therefore abused its discretion in denying the preliminary injunction on that ground.”

“What the city of Clearwater did was so extreme and so strange, frankly, that we sort of knew that it would get struck down eventually,” said Florida Preborn Rescue Director Scott Mahurin.

The buffer zone comprises five feet on either side of Bread and Roses’ driveway. Video shown during a first reading of the ordinance highlights why. The woman who brought it to council’s attention said it was recorded at the clinic. It shows protesters standing and walking in the clinic’s driveway, shouting at people, and approaching cars. 

“The city of Clearwater felt that, in the interest of public safety, regardless of anybody’s viewpoint on any of these issues, it would be good to simply say, ‘Whatever your viewpoint is, you have the right to express it on five feet of either side of the driveway,'” said special counsel for the city of Clearwater, Luke Lirot. “That way, the cars pulling in will get in without having to block traffic, that there won’t be people walking up to the windows where drivers would have their views obstructed.”

Mahurin said his group wasn’t part of those encounters.

“Our group is peaceful. I train my volunteers to engage peacefully, not to break any laws or trespass or provoke any confrontations,” he said.

According to Mahurin, members go to Bread and Roses to offer women information about resources like crisis pregnancy centers, housing and jobs.

“When you take that five feet away, it may not seem like a lot, but if you look at the pictures or you drive by there, that’s the difference between me looking at you as you enter the facility and me having to shout at you over a fence,” Mahurin said.

“Even though there were many other locations in the area that they’d be allowed to do that five feet outside of the driveway, they felt that that restriction impeded their First Amendment rights,” said Lirot.

According to Lirot, the appeals court’s ruling didn’t go into effect immediately. He said the courts allow time for the city to weigh its legal options.

“Even though the court reversed the lower court’s decision, there’s never been any goal of the city to do anything but be fair to everyone and just simply try to keep that whole area safe, regardless of what your viewpoint is,” Lirot said. 

Spectrum News reached out to Bread and Roses for comment but didn’t hear back.

Lirot said a motion for a rehearing would need to be filed later this month. If no action is taken, he said this latest ruling could take effect early in the new year.