National Org. for Women, Inc. v. Scheidler

The full case caption appears at the end of this opinion.

Diane P. Wood, Circuit Judge. This caseis in its fifteenth year of contentiouslitigation. The defendants are anti-abortion activists who employ a protesttactic they call “rescues,” in which theyand other activists physically blockaccess to abortion clinics so that thepatients and staff cannot get in or outof the buildings. Plaintiffs use wordsless benign than “rescue” to describe thedefendants’ activities. We will refer tothem as “protest missions,” in the hopesthat this will be understood as a neutralterm. The defendants’ goal is frankly toprevent abortions from taking place.Participants in the protest missionsengage in a substantial amount ofprotected speech, including efforts topersuade clinic patients not to haveabortions and to persuade clinic doctorsand staff to quit performing abortions.Unfortunately, the protest missions alsoinvolve illegal conduct: protesters doeverything from sitting or lying inclinic doorways and waiting to bearrested to engaging in more egregiousconduct such as entering the clinics anddestroying medical equipment and chainingtheir bodies to operating tables toprevent the tables from being used. In afew instances, protesters apparently havephysically assaulted clinic staff andpatients. In addition to staging theseprotests, the defendants have issuedletters and statements to other clinicsthreatening to stage missions at thoseclinics unless they voluntarily shutdown.