DENVER—The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of a Colorado ruling that bars abortion protesters from displaying graphic images of aborted fetuses in places where they might upset children.
The Denver Post reports ( ) the court’s decision, announced Monday, means the lower court ruling stands.
The case stems from a 2005 protest near an outdoor Palm Sunday service at Denver’s Saint John’s Cathedral, an Episcopal church.
Protesters who disagreed with the Episcopal church’s stance in favor of abortion rights shouted while displaying large images of aborted fetuses. Church officials said some of the approximately 200 children at the service became upset.
The church sued Kenneth Scott, one of the protesters, and a judge issued an order barring him from displaying “gruesome images of mutilated fetuses or dead bodies in a manner reasonably likely to be viewed by children under 12.”
The order is limited to the area near the Denver church.
An appeals court upheld the order in 2012, ruling that there was a “compelling government interest in protecting” children at the church from viewing the images.
The appeals court also ruled that the order was specific to the church and parties involved and could not be applied generally.
Scott’s attorney, Eugene Volokh, said other recent court rulings have found restricting content to protect children to be unconstitutional.
“This remains as an issue across the country, and perhaps one day the U.S. Supreme Court will hear another case like it,” he said.
The Very Rev. Peter Eaton, dean of Saint John’s Cathedral, said the case was “a fundamental issue of our right to worship freely.”
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Information from: The Denver Post,
