The police department of Hollywood, Florida, has confirmed pro-lifers’ right to peacefully demonstrate on public sidewalks outside of abortion facilities, the Thomas More Society tells Live Action News via email.
Last week, Live Action News reported that Officer Del Castillo had approached 40 Days for Life vigil participants outside of A Woman’s Center and told them they had to leave the sidewalk. Thomas More responded by informing Hollywood PD it was in violation of the pro-lifers’ free speech rights, and demanding a reply by February 19.
In a letter to Thomas More, Hollywood Police Department General Counsel David Margolis maintains that Officer Castillo was actually there to respond to the abortion center’s accusation that the pro-lifers had trespassed into their private parking lot, and had merely warned them not to, which the pro-lifers denied having done.
Nevertheless, Margolis confirms that “I have informed the clinic that your clients are entitled to conduct a peaceful vigil on the public sidewalk,” so long as they do not “trespass on the clinic’s private parking lot” or “obstruct the flow of vehicle or pedestrian traffic. With this guidance in mind, I am confident that everyone’s rights can coexist.”
