Monday, March 31, 2014

ACLU defends only the free speech of some

In a sign of blatant hypocrisy, the ACLU of Michigan is strongly defending the free speech rights of a group which has been protesting outside a pet store.  When it comes to prolife protests, the ACLU has defended a law which created buffer zones around abortion clinics to prevent sidewalk counseling and the speech of prolife protestors. 

At the Washington Times, Robert Knight points out how the ACLU's defense of free speech is based on who is speaking.
Puppy Mill Awareness wants to “raise public awareness about the commercial puppy-breeding industry and its effects on the health and welfare of dogs and the people who purchase those dogs,” explains the ACLU in a press release. “As part of its advocacy, PMA holds demonstrations outside pet stores that sell commercially bred puppies, encouraging members of the public to adopt rescued pets, rather than purchase puppies from a store.”

Well, adoption is a wonderful thing. In fact, adoption is the option that pro-life protesters promote to women on their way into abortion clinics. That dog won’t hunt, though, for the ACLU, which filed a Supreme Court brief recently in support of a Massachusetts law prohibiting pro-life protesters from coming too close to abortion clinics.

On Jan. 15, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in McCullen v. Coakley, which involves a challenge to a Massachusetts law creating a 35-foot fixed buffer zone around abortion clinics from which protesters are barred from approaching clients and staff or giving them brochures.

The ACLU, which originally opposed the law, supports the clinic against the protesters. It’s too bad that some of the clients aren’t four-legged and having puppies instead of babies.

FULL STORY