The city of Rochester has told a group of anti-abortion protesters they are not subject to a court-ordered 15-foot buffer zone in front of Planned Parenthood on University Avenue.

The Thomas More Society, a conservative advocacy law firm based in Illinois and Nebraska, contacted the city in August on behalf of area resident Jim Havens and ROC Sidewalk Advocates, a group that engages in "peaceful counseling, prayer and other nonviolent forms of speech" on the sidewalk in front of the Planned Parenthood. In the letter, attorneys argued that the city was wrongly denying Havens and the organization their First Amendment rights by requiring them to abide terms of a 2005 federal injunction.

The injunction, which came out of a state attorney general lawsuit against Operation Rescue National and a host of other anti-abortion groups, enjoined those groups from a variety of behaviors, including harassing staff and patients or blocking the entrances of facilities that provide "medical, surgical, counseling or referral services relating to the human reproductive system, including services relating to pregnancy or the termination of a pregnancy."

Additionally, the injunction enacted a 15-foot buffer around all doorways, walkways or driveway entrances to such facilities within 17 New York counties.

At the Planned Parenthood on University Avenue, that buffer is marked by painted yellow lines on the public sidewalk outside the clinic entrance.

Havens' argument, according to the Thomas More Society letter, is that he and ROC SIdewalk Advocates for Life were not parties to the original federal injunction, and do not work in concert with any group that was a party to the original injunction, so they are not bound by its terms.

Patrick Beath, deputy corporation counsel for the city, responded on Sept. 6, saying that the city agrees.

"So long as police do not have reason to believe that Mr. Havens and his organization are acting in concert with any named defendants, they will not be subject to the 15-foot buffer zone," he wrote. Protestors will, however, be expected to continue abidin the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, the state Clinic Access Act and all other laws.

As a result, said Thomas Olp, vice president and senior counsel with the Thomas More Society, Havens and ROC Sidewalk Advocates for Life can ignore the painted yellow lines.

"The injunction is not a ‘free pass’ allowing police to restrict free speech rights of pro-life advocates who did not prompt the issuance of the injunction, were given no due process 'say' in the proceeding that gave rise to it, and have never assisted those bound by the injunction to violate it," he said. "We appreciate the city of Rochester's acknowledgment of these well-established legal principles."

Debora McDell-Hernandez, director of public and community affairs with Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York said the organization is consulting with law enforcement about the decision.

A spokeswoman for state Attorney General Barbara Underwood said the office is looking into the situation.

"We applaud the city's decision to no longer enforce the 15-foot buffer zone around Planned Parenthood, knowing that buffer zones are often a form of viewpoint discrimination — it's the only time when someone is pushed back from delivering a unique, peaceful message to an intended audience," said Lauren Muzyka, executive director of the national Sidewalk Advocates for Life.

She said the ROC Sidewalk Advocates for Life are peaceful and seek only to "offer somen community resources and loving alternatives to abortion.

Since 2009, she said, courts have "begun to see that buffer zones often limit free speech too broadly, especially when existing laws already protect individuals from criminal behavior."

MCDERMOT@Gannett.com