Judge orders buffer zone around Kentucky abortion clinic

Antiabortion activists were ordered by a judge on Friday to stay away from a “buffer zone” outside Kentucky’s only abortion clinic, which is bracing for protests from a national group.

U.S. District Judge David Hale issued a temporary restraining order that federal prosecutors sought as a preemptive move ahead of vigils organized by Operation Save America, a Texas-based Christian fundamentalist group.

The buffer zone in front of the clinic gives patients a “small measure of relief,” ensuring they can enter, said Brigitte Amiri, an attorney for the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.