Colorado sidewalk counselor appeals ruling upholding state's 8-foot 'bubble law'

Right · 2Wendy Faustin, a pro-life sidewalk counselor who offers abortion alternatives outside clinics in Colorado, is challenging the state's so-called "bubble law", which she says turns what she considers a compassionate conversation into a legal risk. 1 2 Right · 1Colorado state law and a Denver municipal ordinance prohibit people from knowingly approaching within eight feet of another person without their consent to distribute literature or engage in protest, education or counseling within 100 feet of a health care facility entrance, including abortion clinics. 1 Right · 2Violations are classified as a petty offense, which carries a fine or possibly a short jail sentence. 1 2

Right · 2Faustin says the rule stops her from quietly offering women information about pregnancy resource centers, adoption agencies and other alternatives to abortion, and forces her to speak from a distance where others may overhear. 1 2 Right · 1A federal judge rejected her challenge to the law last July, and the case is now on appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. 1 Right · 2The U.S. Supreme Court upheld Colorado's 1993 law in its 2000 decision in Hill v. Colorado, ruling that the restrictions did not violate the First Amendment. 1 2

Right · 2Her attorney, Roger Byron of First Liberty Institute, argues the dispute reaches beyond abortion, saying such laws would be struck down if they restricted anti-war protesters or striking union workers, and that Hill v. Colorado makes pro-life sidewalk counselors "second-class citizens". 1 2 Right · 1Byron said he expects the case to reach the U.S. Supreme Court whichever way the 10th Circuit rules. 1 Right · 2Fox News Digital asked the Colorado attorney general's office for comment, and a spokesperson said it has no comment beyond its filings, so the state's arguments are not set out in the coverage. 1 2