NEW YORK, NY— New York’s Planned Parenthood affiliates are raising constitutional concerns about Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposal to create protest buffer zones around houses of worship and reproductive health facilities, setting up a dispute as state budget negotiations begin.
Hochul has called for stronger protections following a rise in hate crimes and a targeted attack on a synagogue in Michigan. She said state law must change to prevent harassment and intimidation outside places of worship.
“Whether a synagogue, church or a mosque, it doesn’t matter,” Hochul said. “People have a right to feel protected.”
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Her proposal would establish a 25-foot buffer zone from property lines and expand the state’s Clinic Access law to regulate demonstrations, obstruction and violence outside both houses of worship and reproductive health sites. Violations would carry stronger criminal penalties.
Planned Parenthood leaders said they support safe access but questioned whether the proposal would withstand legal scrutiny.
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“Planned Parenthood believes everyone has a right to safely enter reproductive health care facilities and houses of worship,” Robin Chappelle Golston, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts, said. “At the same time, it is critical that any policy intended to protect safe entry is effective, legally durable and respects our long-held right to free speech.”
Golston added that the organization has “serious concerns” the measure could “chill the constitutionally protected activity of protest.”
The proposal faces resistance in the Legislature. The state Senate has advanced a narrower bill that would make blocking access to houses of worship a misdemeanor without regulating protests or establishing buffer zones. The measure would not apply to reproductive health clinics.
Lawmakers have raised concerns that Hochul’s plan could face legal challenges, citing a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion clinics in Massachusetts.
“Ours is more value-neutral, which I think we all agree on, and would probably stand up better,” said state Sen. Liz Krueger.
The state Assembly excluded the governor’s proposal from its one-house budget resolution. Speaker Carl Heastie has often removed nonfiscal policy items from budget plans.
Civil liberties groups also oppose the measure. The New York Civil Liberties Union argues existing laws already prohibit harassment, intimidation and violence outside houses of worship and clinics.
“This is also not, I think, a moment in our nation’s history when we want to be further criminalizing protest,” said Justin Harrison, senior policy counsel at the group.
He added that expanding restrictions could increase confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement. “A sidewalk is a sidewalk as far as the First Amendment is concerned,” Harrison said.
Hochul defended the proposal, saying it balances free speech with safety.
“I’ll protect the right to protest — time, place and manner restrictions over here — not to harass people when they’re going in for their worship services,” she said.
Separate legislation from state Sen. Sam Sutton and Assembly Member Micah Lasher would apply similar restrictions to entrances and access points at both houses of worship and reproductive health facilities. Supporters are pushing to include the measure in the state budget, due April 1.
“Hate crimes in New York City increased by 152% this January from last January — 152%,” Sutton said. “We cannot ignore what is happening at the very doors of the places that should feel safest.”
At the city level, the New York City Council is weighing its own approach. Speaker Julie Menin revised a proposal that initially included a 100-foot buffer zone, removing that requirement and instead deferring to police oversight.
Lasher said broader buffer zones would likely fail in court.
“The honest truth is that a 100-foot buffer zone would not stand the snowball’s chance in hell of surviving in a court,” he said.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has not taken a position, saying he is awaiting legal analysis from the police department and city Law Department.
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