The elected officials of Grants Pass, Oregon, have ordered their police to shut up Christians who speak on street corners, who hand out tracts and especially those who hold up signs against abortion.

This has been going on for more than two years.

The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) filed two lawsuits against the City of Grants Pass in federal court to fight for Christians who are called to speak out for the unborn.

The lawsuits are on behalf of Abolish Abortion Oregon (AAOR), an organization of caring Christian evangelists who travel throughout Oregon advocating for the protection of the unborn.

AAOR will preach their message on public sidewalks near abortion providers’ places of business, including a Planned Parenthood facility in Grants Pass.

 “Addressed in the first lawsuit, the noise ordinance the police officers enforced to silence AAOR is unconstitutional on its face,” said Ray D. Hacke, PJI’s Oregon-based staff attorney. “It’s completely subjective – it provides no objective standards that speakers can comply with or that police officers can use to enforce it. All someone has to do is complain that the noise is bothering them, and the police will try to shut the speaker down. Our free-speech jurisprudence makes clear that the mere fact that someone disagrees with a speaker is not grounds enough to silence the speaker.”

The other lawsuit involves both the County of Josephine, in which Grants Pass is, and the city itself. During last year’s county fair, Grants Pass police officers tried to enforce extreme restrictions on speech enacted by the fair’s authorities.

That included prohibitions on amplification and signs, which commercial entities were allowed to use, and a requirement that speakers remain in a tiny designated “free expression” area.

When AAOR’s members respectfully declined to submit, the police officers threatened to cite and arrest them.

Free speech is a bedrock of our God-given constitutional rights and so is the right to life. Thank goodness for groups like AAOR and PJI and their willingness to fight.