Pro-life Catholic mother and sidewalk counselor Debra Vitagliano had the support of attorneys general from 14 states who had signed onto an amicus brief.
'These zones have serious implication for the rights to free speech and assembly of all people. If pro-life prayer vigils can be banned and criminalized, then public speech, assembly or protest on any other issue can also be banned and criminalized.'
Sidewalk counselor Debra Vitagliano's 'case presents an ideal opportunity for the Supreme Court to right Hill’s wrong and protect all those who want to serve abortion-vulnerable women,' a religious liberty legal firm said.
'There's the real First Amendment that protects your basic civil rights, including free speech, and then there is the other First Amendment that applies to those who advocate the pro-life viewpoint, and it is used to trample their free speech rights.'
In video footage of the incident, a police officer can be seen telling recently acquitted Isabel Vaughan-Spruce that it is still 'an offense' to pray in the abortion clinic's 'buffer zone,' even if done so silently.