The Board of Supervisors finds that every person in the County of Sacramento has a basic and fundamental right to privacy protected by the United States Constitution and explicitly guaranteed in California's Constitution, Article I, Section 1, including the right to seek and obtain all health care services permitted under the laws of this State. Central to this right is the need to secure access to all reproductive health care services. Access to these services is a matter of critical importance not only to the individual but also to the health and welfare of all citizens of the County. Intentional efforts to harass an individual in order to deter or prevent the individual from exercising his or her right to seek and obtain health care services are therefore contrary to the interests of the people of Sacramento.
The Board of Supervisors finds that for many people seeking access to medical treatment, being forced to run a gauntlet of protestors who intend to deter or impede access to the health care facility can be directly injurious to the patient's health, even if the patient is not physically barred from entry. Other persons may be sufficiently intimidated to put off necessary or timely medical treatment entirely. The Board of Supervisors further finds that protests at the entrance to health care facilities in the County of Sacramento have often disrupted the operation of the facilities as well as the ability of individuals to seek and obtain services within the facilities.
In adopting this legislation, the Board of Supervisors recognizes both the fundamental constitutional right to assemble peaceably and to demonstrate on matters of public concern, as well as the right to seek and obtain health care. The Board of Supervisors finds that law enforcement officers often have difficulty determining when the exercise of the right to protect violates the competing right of those seeking access to health care facilities. The Board of Supervisors further finds that the provisions of this ordinance promote the full exercise of these rights and strike an appropriate accommodation between them. The failure of the Board of Supervisors to take steps to accommodate these competing interests may jeopardize the exercise of both privacy and the First Amendment rights.
The Board of Supervisors finds that the buffer zone outside of health care facilities established by this ordinance ensures that patients have unimpeded access to medical services without unduly impairing the ability of demonstrators to communicate their message to their intended audience. The buffer zone imposes content-neutral time, place and manner restrictions, which are tailored to serve a significant government interest and which leave ample alternative channels of communication. The buffer zone has been determined to be reasonable by the Sacramento Superior Court based upon its review of similar facts and a determination that such a buffer protects those accessing clinics without unreasonably interfering with communication. It is also based upon a determination made independently by the Board of Supervisors as a result of evidence heard and considered by the Board.
This ordinance is not intended to create any limited, designated or general public forum. Rather it is intended to protect those who seek access to health care from conduct which violates their rights.
This ordinance is supplemental to and not inconsistent with the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, which Act specifically provides that it is not intended to preempt local regulation of this matter.
(SCC 1258 § 1, 2003)