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Imagine being arrested, prosecuted, and thrown in prison for having a peaceful conversation on a public sidewalk in a free country. Most Americans probably don't think that could happen in their country, let alone their own neighborhood.
Unfortunately, that's a real possibility for life-affirming speakers in Westchester County, New York. A new law threatens to put people like me behind bars for speaking to vulnerable women about alternatives to abortion within 100 feet of an abortion clinic. I recently asked the Supreme Court to strike down that law and protect those who wish to serve women in crisis.
Three years ago, I felt called to be a compassionate voice for women considering abortion. As a mother of three sons, the greatest joy in my life has been nurturing my boys, raising them, and watching them grow into the men they are today. I believe, as Mother Teresa once said, that "motherhood is the gift of God to women."
It's a tragedy that women are being sold a very different narrative—one that denigrates motherhood and reinforces the lies that being a mom isn't worth it and that a woman's life of fulfillment ends once her child's life begins. These damaging and false narratives lead many women to feel trapped by pregnancy and to believe abortion is their only choice.
A message of hope and help is always the better option. In her most vulnerable state, a pregnant woman considering abortion deserves to know that she is not alone and that becoming a mom is a precious gift. That belief is what motivated me to become a sidewalk counselor.
Sidewalk counseling is a peaceful ministry designed to help abortion-vulnerable women. While opponents have criticized it as just "protest" or "interference," this couldn't be further from truth. Sidewalk counseling is about help and hope. It's about gently approaching women outside abortion clinics to encourage them to choose life and offer them the love and support they so often seek. It's about letting abortion-vulnerable women know they can keep their babies without having to feel alone and afraid.
In my own experience, most women who consider abortions do so only because they feel that they have no alternative and no support system to help them through their pregnancy. I want the many women in my state who might otherwise go through with an abortion to have an opportunity to choose life. Sometimes all it takes is a loving voice and an open heart.
But last year, in response to the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson decision, Westchester County passed a law restricting discussions about abortion, its alternatives, and life-affirming resources available to women on public sidewalks near abortion clinics. The law carves out a 100-foot zone around abortion clinics and prevents anyone from approaching within eight feet of another person in that zone for the purpose of educating or counseling unless the other person gives explicit permission. Even though I'm still allowed to approach a woman for any other reason—to take a poll, ask for donations, ask for directions, or even wish her good luck with her abortion—I could be jailed for talking with her about other options for her pregnancy.
With the help of my attorneys at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, I filed a lawsuit last year against Westchester County in federal court to defend my ability to peacefully serve women in need and continue my life-affirming ministry.
Two federal courts have ruled against me, constrained by a Supreme Court decision from 2000 called Hill v. Colorado. Westchester's law is modeled after and nearly identical to the Colorado law that the Supreme Court upheld in Hill, which allows states to create floating bubble zones around abortion-clinic patients and stifle free speech. Even though legal scholars, judges, and Justices have heavily criticized Hill, it still stands and continues to be weaponized against life-affirming counselors.
My case before the Supreme Court presents a perfect opportunity for the Justices to reconsider Hill and to finally put an end to laws that prohibit peaceful speech and deprive women in need of a final opportunity to receive offers of help. No one should risk jail time for having a peaceful, face-to-face conversation on a public sidewalk. I pray the Justices hear my case and allow me to continue offering life-affirming help to women in need.
Debra Vitagliano is an occupational therapist and Catholic sidewalk counselor residing in Westchester County, New York.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
