Columbus City Council on Monday unanimously passed an amended version of its ordinance to establish a buffer around Planned Parenthood sites, a move that essentially uses a law already in place against disorderly conduct but increases the penalty for violators.

Columbus City Council on Monday unanimously passed an amended version of its ordinance to establish a buffer around Planned Parenthood sites, a move that essentially uses a law already in place against disorderly conduct but increases the penalty for violators.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Brown had proposed the ordinance as a way to establish a 15-foot buffer around reproductive medical centers and to protect workers and women from aggressive anti-abortion protesters.

�There is no other medical situation where strangers feel entitled to impose their will on someone else,� Brown said.

"My goal is to make sure that women can access their health care and that clinic workers can access their jobs, and that they can do those things without intimidation and violence.�

She said the ordinance is needed because police calls at such facilities in Columbus more than tripled between 2011 and 2015, to nearly 40.

But Brown amended the ordinance at the City Council meeting Monday night to fall more in line with the city�s law against disorderly conduct. That was necessary, city officials said, because police expressed concern about enforcing the buffer under the original ordinance, which contained the phrase �following and harassing� in describing what wouldn't be tolerated.

That phrase was removed and replaced with "disorderly conduct" to explain what could prompt an arrest in the buffer zone.

Under what was passed Monday, the first-degree misdemeanor charge for disorderly conduct within the 15-foot buffer would carry a penalty of up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. A charge of disorderly conduct anywhere else is a fourth-degree misdemeanor carrying a punishment of up to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine.

The ordinance, which is to go into effect in a month, makes it illegal for anyone to block or obstruct a person from entering or exiting a reproductive health-care facility. Protesters cannot grab or offer unwanted touches, and the ordinance prohibits anyone from engaging in "repeated acts that place a person in reasonable fear or physical harm.�

In a statement, Iris E. Harvey, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, said, � We are living in a time when extremists are furthering vitriolic rhetoric that contributes to an aggressive climate for those seeking and providing reproductive health care, which includes safe and legal abortion services.

Opponents of the ordinance, which include the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, argued that it limits free speech.

Gary Daniels, chief lobbyist for organization, said Monday he couldn't comment on Brown�s amendment because he has not yet studied the changes.

Seth Drayer, who opposes abortion and protests outside Planned Parenthood centers, said the legislation does nothing to prevent �rogue� protesters who are willing to break the law. He also noted that disorderly conduct was illegal whether near an abortion clinic or not.

�This is nothing more than a redundancy and is unnecessary because of this amendment,� Drayer said. �What I am concerned about is when we're submitting legislation that is targeting one group: a group that opposes abortion.�

lsullivan@dispatch.com

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