(LifeSiteNews) — Pro-life leaders in Florida are praising a circuit court’s “wisely decided” 2-1 ruling to allow sidewalk counselors in Clearwater to continue to assist pregnant women.

“The ordinance was clearly designed to stop pro-life advocates from talking to abortion-vulnerable women and girls,” Florida Right to Life president Lynda Bell said in a press release.

The ordinance sought to erect a five-foot “vehicular safety zone” or buffer that would prevent pro-lifers from crossing the clinic’s driveway and engaging with women as they leave their car and enter Bread and Roses Woman’s Health Center. Counselors for the group Florida Preborn Rescue (FPR) routinely appear at the facility, which is Clearwater’s sole abortion center.

Writing on behalf of the majority, Circuit Court Judge Kevin Newsom stated in a December 4 ruling that a 2023 ordinance passed by the Clearwater City Council “seriously burdens” free speech by “restricting the sidewalk counselors’ ability to distribute leaflets to patients as they arrive at the clinic.”

The decision reverses a lower court’s denial for an injunction request previously sought by Florida Preborn Rescue. Newsom, a Trump appointee, stated that the group was “likely to succeed on the merits” in the case because the buffer zone “stifled” their First Amendment rights.

Scott Mahurin, president of Florida Preborn Rescue, heralded the court’s decision. “We are very grateful that the 11th (Circuit) Court of Appeals saw through the city of Clearwater’s blatant, unconstitutional buffer zone law,” he said in remarks to Courthouse News Service.

LifeSite reached out to Florida Right to Life for comment Wednesday but was directed to Bell’s press release.

“This ruling … marks a significant win for those who seek to offer compassionate alternatives to women facing unplanned pregnancies, allowing them to engage in peaceful sidewalk counseling without arbitrary government barriers,” Bell said in her statement.

Judge Nancy Abudu opposed Newsom and fellow Judge Britt Grant in the case. She said a five-foot buffer zone does not place a “substantial burden on FPR’s ability to leaflet.”

The court’s ruling comes as Grand Rapids, Michigan is on the verge of taking steps to silence pro-lifers as well. In August, the city’s interim attorney suggested commissioners look into passing an ordinance that bans amplified sound such as megaphones and loudspeakers outside a local Planned Parenthood center. Pro-lifers frequently pray and hold protests outside the clinic, which is the only one in west Michigan.

Earlier this year, the state of Maine sued a preacher for protesting outside of a Planned Parenthood location, claiming that he violated the Maine Civil Rights Act by speaking via microphone and playing worship music in the vicinity of the building. He was accused of 12 violations of the Maine Civil Rights Act, each punishable up to $5,000 for a potential penalty as high as $60,000.

The abortion industry routinely relies on a variety of legal tactics to try to quash peaceful protest and sidewalk counseling outside their locations. In 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court gave pro-abortion bubble (or buffer) zone laws a reprieve when it refused to hear Bruni v. City of Pittsburgh, which concerned a 2005 ordinance requiring pro-life activists to stay more than 15 feet away from the entrances to abortion facilities, effectively keeping pro-lifers from communicating with women entering or exiting the building to appeal to them to choose life or offer them assistance with abortion alternatives. “Bubble zone” laws are also especially common in Canada and the United Kingdom.