The city of Rochester and the state Attorney General's Office have told a group of anti-abortion protesters that they will have to abide by a 2005 injunction requiring they stay outside a 15-foot buffer zone at the Planned Parenthood on University Avenue after all.

Earlier this month, city officials agreed with an argument by the Thomas More Society, a conservative advocacy firm based in Illinois and Nebraska, that local man Jim Havens and ROC Sidewalk Advocates would not have to respect the buffer zone if they were not working in concert with any of the groups named in the 2005 injunction.

ROC Sidewalk Advocates, according to the Thomas More Society, engages in "peaceful counseling, prayer and other nonviolent forms of speech" outside the clinic. The Thomas More Society did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More:Rochester gives anti-abortion group green light for Planned Parenthood protests

But, since last week, the city officials and representatives from Attorney General Barbara Underwood's office have reviewed evidence they believe shows Havens and ROC Sidewalk Advocates are working alongside those groups, according to a joint letter sent Friday to the Thomas More Society.

As a result, according to the letter, the 15-foot buffer zone will be enforced by police effective immediately at all entrances and exits to the University Avenue Planned Parenthood.

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.

The Attorney General's Office provided copies of a Facebook post by Rescue Rochester — one of the original defendants in the suit that resulted in the injunction — that promoted training by Havens and ROC Sidewalk Associates at the Focus Pregnancy Help Center. The Focus Pregnancy Help Center is run by Mary Jost, formerly Mary Melfi, another of the original defendants in the 2005 order, according to the Attorney General's Office. Other documentation provided by the office included a Facebook posting by Havens promoting training at the Focus Pregnancy Help Center; a mailing from Rescue Rochester urging its members to join Havens' monthly protests at Planned Parenthood; and a screenshot of the Focus Pregnancy Help Center's website promoting those protests.

In their letter, Rochester and attorney general's officials also requested the Thomas More Society implement a "litigation hold," or preservation order, for all documents held by Havens and ROC Sidewalk Associates regarding defendants named in the 2005 injunction. The request covers emails, text messages, social media posts, social media messaging and other forms of correspondence and advertising.

MCDERMOT@Gannett.com