Republished March 13, 2019 - 12:49 PM
Original Publication Date March 13, 2019 - 10:11 AM
ATLANTA - A civil liberties group is demanding that police on the Georgia Capitol grounds allow demonstrators to wear Planned Parenthood buttons that include profanity.
In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union says two women who oppose legislation that would ban some abortions wore pink buttons that included the profanity as part of a slogan.
Capitol police ordered both women to remove the buttons March 7 and that officers told others that items with "curse words" weren't allowed because children were present, the lawsuit states.
Georgia Department of Public Safety Capt. Mark Perry said the agency will abide by whatever the federal courts decide.
The plaintiffs in the case are both opposed to legislation now being considered in Georgia that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. A hearing on the bill is set for Thursday, and one of the women wants to wear her button at the hearing, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit seeks an order that would allow people to wear the buttons on Capitol grounds.
The ACLU cites a Vietnam-era U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a man had the right to wear a jacket using profanity to refer to the draft while in a courthouse.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019