DETROIT, MI - Thomas More Society attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Sidewalk Advocates for Life and local pro-life sidewalk counselor Kevin Hammer against the City of Detroit, challenging an ordinance that criminalizes peaceful, life-affirming speech outside abortion facilities.

The law targets pro-life outreach with the threat of fines and imprisonment for those who violate either of two overlapping restrictions: a fifteen-foot fixed buffer zone around every facility entrance and an eight-foot “floating bubble zone” around every patient. The lawsuit notes the ordinance is nearly identical to a Pittsburgh ordinance struck down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Brown v. City of Pittsburgh—the same fifteen-foot buffer, the same eight-foot bubble, the same combination of overlapping speech-restrictive zones.

“Every woman facing an unexpected pregnancy deserves to know that help is available—free ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, real support, right there on the sidewalk. That is all Kevin Hammer offers,” said Peter Breen, Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation at Thomas More Society. “This ordinance does not protect anyone. It makes it a crime to stand on a public sidewalk and offer a woman a choice. The government cannot wall off the public square so that women never hear they have alternatives to abortion. Kevin has the right to stand there without fear.”  

“Our Sidewalk Advocates stand on public sidewalks offering a gentle word and information to women who are willing to receive it—that is what this ordinance criminalizes,” said Lauren Muzyka, President and CEO of Sidewalk Advocates for Life. “Sidewalk Advocates for Life trains and equips hundreds of certified Advocates nationwide in peaceful, prayerful, loving, and law-abiding outreach. Through that work, more than 25,000 women have chosen life-affirming alternatives to abortion. Women facing an unexpected pregnancy deserve to hear that free ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, and real support are available to them, and with Thomas More Society, we will not stop fighting until every Sidewalk Advocate is free to deliver that message.”

Kevin Hammer, a retired Michigan attorney and certified Sidewalk Advocate, stands on the public sidewalk outside the Scotsdale Women’s Center on West Seven Mile Road holding a sign that reads “Ask Me About Free Ultrasounds and Pregnancy Tests” and offering life-affirming literature to women who pass. He does not follow, chase, block, or yell at anyone. Despite this, the abortion facility has repeatedly called police to the scene—on one occasion, summoning five patrol cars with supervisory officers.

“The City criminalized protected speech without even trying to prove any sort of legitimate safety or traffic concerns at the facility,” said Tyler Brooks, Senior Counsel at Thomas More Society. “The City should be protecting peoples’ free speech rights, not handing the abortion industry a heckler’s veto backed by criminal penalties. The First Amendment requires more from local governments.”

Thomas More Society has a proven record of defeating similar ordinances, having secured victories for sidewalk counselors recently in Clearwater, Florida and Minneapolis, Minnesota—where the city was ordered to pay over $450,000 in attorneys’ fees—and in Carbondale, Illinois, pressing a challenge that drew national attention and prompted the city to repeal its ordinance on the eve of Supreme Court review, rather than face a likely reversal.

Read the Complaint in Sidewalk Advocates for Life & Kevin Hammer v. City of Detroit, here.