Attorney General Letitia James' office on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against a pair of protesters who held demonstrations outside of a Planned Parenthood location in Manhattan.
The suit alleges the protesters have disrupted and intimidated people who are trying to enter the building, posing a risk to patients and staff. The suit is also seeking an injunction to restrict protests to within an 18-foot-by-30-foot area near the Planned Parenthood health center.
“For almost 50 years, Roe v. Wade has made clear the right of women to control their own bodies,” James said.
“Despite the clear protections under the law, these individuals used violent and illegal tactics to harass, threaten, and block women from entering Planned Parenthood. Let me be very clear: No person, no business, and no government body has the right to deny or limit a woman’s access to an abortion, and I will continue to do everything within my legal power to support the reproductive rights of women.”
James has taken on similar "buffer zone" cases, including one in Rochester, where abortion opponents sought to demonstrate closer to a Planned Parenthood facility.