In McCullen v. Coakley, Eleanor McCullen, a 77-year-old member of the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, is challenging a 2007 Massachusetts law that makes it a crime for public speakers other than clinic employees to be within 35 feet of entrances to facilities where abortions are performed.
McCullen argues that the law’s “buffer zones” violate her First Amendment right to free speech. In contrast, Massachusetts state officials point to a history of violence and disorderly conduct outside of reproductive health care facilities in the United States, which initially led to passage of the Massachusetts law.
Cohen recently completed a groundbreaking national study about the toll that working under the constant threat of violence takes on abortion clinic workers. He is writing a book on this subject, which is due out later this year from Oxford University Press.
“Doctors and other clinic workers and volunteers face threats on a daily basis,” said Cohen. “Buffer zones that require protesters to keep a specified distance from women’s health clinic entrances are critical to protecting patients and care providers from harassment and worse. Buffer zones don’t cure the problem, but they provide a space.”
Cohen is a frequent media commentator who has been interviewed on MSNBC’s “Melissa Harris-Perry Show” and has been quoted by CNN.com, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today, among numerous other outlets.
Cohen’s scholarship explores the intersection of constitutional law and gender, emphasizing sex segregation, masculinity and violence against abortion providers. He also researches voting anomalies in the Supreme Court. Cohen previously worked as a fellow and staff attorney for the Women’s Law Project in Philadelphia, where he handled a range of cases involving reproductive rights, sex discrimination under Title IX, health insurance coverage of contraceptives, health care for women prisoners and family rights for gay and lesbian couples.
He received his JD from Columbia University School of Law, where he was named a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and received the Public Interest Commitment Award and two Columbia Human Rights Fellowships. He was managing editor of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review and articles editor of the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law.
**** David S. Cohen is available to be interviewed from the VideoLink satellite studio in Philadelphia *****
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News Media Contact: Alex McKechnie, News Officer, University Communications, 215-895-2705, 401-651-7550 (cell), [email protected]
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