GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Grand Rapids’ amended noise ordinance takes effect Thursday, prohibiting amplified sound within 100 feet of hospitals and clinics.
City commissioners passed the ban in a 4-3 vote last month. It followed months of hearings centered on anti-abortion protests at the Planned Parenthood on Cherry Street near College Avenue, where demonstrators have used megaphones and loudspeakers.
Grand Rapids votes to ban amplified noise near health care facilities
Neighbors said the constant noise violated their right to peace; patients said it violated their right to privacy. Mayor David LaGrand, who voted for the ban, said his support was not about the content of the protest, but about using bullhorns to amplify the noise.
“I am convinced that this is something which will, on balance, address concerns of the community in general about rights to peace and quiet,” he previously said. “And it’s not simply people at health care facilities, but the people around those facilities.”…