At first glance, a federal appeals court ruling last week that sent back to a lower court a city ordinance limiting the rights of anti-abortion protesters might seem like a defeat for medical facilities that offer abortions and their patients.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Pittsburgh's two-pronged ordinance intended to protect patients from harassment by demonstrators as they enter clinics was too restrictive on the rights of protesters. One provision created an 8-foot bubble around people approaching the clinics; the other imposed a 15-foot buffer from the centers' entrances.

But in ruling against Pittsburgh's use of both restrictions, the court said each method on its own was constitutionally appropriate and consistent with First Amendment rights to free speech and protections for religious expression. What the ruling means for now is that the status quo remains in effect until the city decides how to proceed.

It could appeal and ask the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the double layer of protection for patients entering clinics, but given the unpredictability inherent in that step, the more cautious approach would be to maintain the 15-foot buffer zone.

Giving up that insulation for the patients could be hazardous, with protesters able to come right to the threshold of the medical centers. With the 15-foot buffer, pickets and protesters still would be able to march, chant, pray, shout slogans and distribute literature near the clinics, but entrances would be kept clear, providing access for patients coming and going.

Although we also believe women shouldn't have to listen to aggressive and misleading lectures as they contemplate very personal medical decisions, something the 8-foot bubble helped alleviate, at least the buffer zone allows them to feel they are safe once they reach the doors of a clinic.

Unfortunately, it's too much to expect women to be able to seek legal health care without being intimidated and harassed in the process.

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