Court Opinion

ID: 9476401
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:55:07.733148+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:45:17.896252
License: Public Domain

MERRITT, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
The issue in this case concerns the constitutionality of a city ordinance requiring that fetal remains from first trimester abortions either be (a) “interred, deposited in a vault or tomb, [or] cremated” or (b) “otherwise disposed of in a manner approved by the Commissioner of Health.” I agree with Judge Contie that the portion of the ordinance — “or otherwise disposed of in a manner approved by the Commissioner” —would be unconstitutionally vague standing on its own. Therefore, to uphold the ordinance, we must examine the specific fetal disposal methods prescribed by the other portion of the ordinance.
In Mahoning Women’s Center v. Hunter, 610 F.2d 456, 460 (6th Cir.1979), this Court held invalid a city ordinance on the grounds that it undermined “the effective enjoyment of that [abortion] right by imposing heavy and unnecessary conditions.” The Cincinnati ordinance’s requirement that first trimester fetal remains be “interred, deposited in a vault or tomb, [or] cremated” unnecessarily burdens and adds to the cost of a woman’s right to an abortion during the first trimester. Therefore, under the reasoning of Mahoning, the specific means of disposal prescribed by the ordinance constitute an impermissible burden on a woman’s effective enjoyment of her constitutional right to an abortion. Accordingly, the vagueness of the ordinance is not cured by its more specific language.
Like the dissent, I value free speech as well as open and robust discussion of issues. Nonetheless, in my view, the dissent incorrectly frames the issue in this case as one concerning the First Amendment rights of the Cincinnati City Council to propound its views on abortion. This is not a case where a city councilman simply gives a speech regarding the abortion issue. We are required here to consider the end-product of the City Council’s deliberations, i.e., its ordinance, to determine whether it is constitutional. We know of no authority — and the dissent cites none— for the proposition that the ordinance itself is constitutionally protected speech. There is a significant distinction between speech and governmental regulation. Legislation regulating conduct, such as the ordinance at issue in this case, serves to limit the freedom of the individuals within the authority of the governmental entity. For the courts to defer to this sort of legislative action on free speech grounds would frustrate the judicial review which is necessary to protect constitutional rights generally.
Accordingly, I concur in the judgment of the Court.