This interview originally appeared in the Thomas More Society 2024 Impact Report. To explore the full Impact Report, click here.

In November 2022, the City of Minneapolis enacted an anti-speech ‘buffer zone’ ordinance that prevented pro-life sidewalk counselors from standing in the public driveway of Planned Parenthood, silencing a Minneapolis-based pro-life organization whose mission is simple: Save lives and be loving witnesses to the sanctity of human life.

Pro-Life Action Ministries was hit hard by the unconstitutional ordinance. A significant part of the organization’s ministry consists of sidewalk counseling, a practice in which individuals offer abortion-minded clients alternatives to abortion, compassionate encouragement, and free resources. When sidewalk counselors are silenced, the abortion industry gets to control the narrative, and the story often ends tragically in the death of an innocent preborn human, as well as acute physical and mental pain endured by the baby’s mother.

So, the next step was clear. In April 2023, Thomas More Society sued the City of Minneapolis on behalf of Pro- Life Action Ministries, determined to restore the nonprofit’s free speech rights. Following a court battle that lasted nearly two years, Pro-Life Action Ministries secured victory in a settlement against Minneapolis on December 18, 2024. As part of the settlement, Minneapolis was forced to amend its speech-restricting law to allow for speech “protected by the First Amendment”—which the City has explicitly stated includes pro-life sidewalk counseling. Pro- Life Action Ministries staff and volunteers are now free to sidewalk counsel in accordance with their First Amendment rights.

Thomas More Society had the opportunity to chat with Brian Gibson, Executive Director of Pro- Life Action Ministries, about his work and the impact of this legal victory for life.

TMS: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Brian. You’ve certainly dedicated much—maybe most of—your time and energy to advocating for the preborn over the years. When did you first get involved with Pro-Life Action Ministries?

Brian Gibson: I came on board full time at Pro-Life Action Ministries in 1986. The purpose of our organization is to save the lives of the babies that are about to be killed… to be there, even if we can’t always save them. We have the largest presence of Christians outside an abortion facility in the world every Good Friday, thousands show up to our prayer service outside of Planned Parenthood that day.

TMS: How did Minneapolis’ bubble zone affect PLAM’s ministry? Did you have to entirely halt your efforts on the sidewalk, reaching out to abortion-vulnerable women?

BG: Minneapolis’ bubble zone ordinance was intended to make sidewalk counseling harder— impossible, for that matter! The bubble zone was intended to stop sidewalk counseling entirely and we worked around it, but not without risk to our safety. Since the ordinance specified the sidewalk area, we moved out into the streets, out into traffic. And that’s where it becomes dangerous. The city claimed safety reasons for the ordinance but made it unsafe for us! We continued to get out there and offer help.

TMS: Why was it important for PLAM to stay out on the sidewalk?

BG: Our literature is our whole message. If a woman reads what we give her, that could save a life. And so, Planned Parenthood goes to great lengths to try and stop us from being able to get literature in the hands of women, even to the point of getting the City Council of Minneapolis to pass a bogus ordinance. Since the City of Minneapolis capitulated in this case, we’ve had four babies saved! Right away, the first day we were able to go back out on the public sidewalk in front of the driveway, we had a baby saved. Obviously, it works to be there, to be able to offer literature.

TMS: That’s such joyous news! And a beautiful reminder that fighting legal battles like yours isn’t only about protecting our rights, but also has a real, tangible effect on saving lives. What do you think are the implications of repealing bubble zone laws, beyond Minneapolis?

BG: I’m aware of what’s happening around the country with bubble zones. Beating Minneapolis in federal court has an impact for everybody else across the country that’s trying to sidewalk counsel. In fact, we learned right after the City of Minneapolis passed its ordinance that the City of St. Paul was looking to pass an identical one! The Planned Parenthood building in St. Paul is the highest volume abortion facility they have in the country. And you’ve got to shout in a very loud voice to be heard. They designed the building so that the women go in the back, so they don’t even have to see us once they’ve driven in. So, to shut us off at the driveway would mean our efforts are completely shut down in that location. Thomas More Society, bringing the lawsuit on our behalf, stopped St. Paul’s city council from doing anything further. It was important to win.

TMS: It’s certainly an honor for us to labor in the vineyard alongside you and support your pro-life ministry through our legal efforts. For the many other pro-life advocates facing anti-speech zones across the country, do you have any advice or words of encouragement?

BG: I trust Thomas More Society. These guys know what they’re doing, and I am so grateful. To people still fighting these bubble zone ordinances, I’d say this: Get out there. Don’t give up. You still have to go out, even if all you can do is hold signs or call out and let the message be in what you say.

Through the power of prayer and being present, lives can and will be saved!

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