Despite the considerably more important things anti-abortion activists should worry about, here’s a humorous curiosity: In Bakersfield, California, new parking
restrictions in front of a family planning clinic have been inexplicably
protested by local residents, who fear the new restrictions will make it more
difficult to pray outside of the clinic. A petition with just under 800 signatures
was submitted to the Bakersfield City Council on Wednesday by Tim Palmquist of
Lifesavers Ministries (of no relation to the ring-shaped mints). The petition says:

"We need to park in this area for more than 30 minutes
at a time when we exercise our First Amendment rights by participating in activities
such as prayer vigils."

City Attorney Ginny Gennaro responded, befuddled:

"We’re not inhibiting anyone’s freedom of expression. They
can continue to walk down the sidewalk. As long as I’ve been city attorney for
the last six years, I haven’t seen any protests over parking restrictions of
this nature."

When workers arrived to install signs in front of the
clinic, Palmquist – who leases a house across the street from the clinic –
voiced his opposition to the new signs, saying that there wasn’t enough
long-term parking.

One member of Palmquist’s group said, "Our hope is that it
will stay as it was before. The street belongs to the city and to the people of
the city." Of course, this disregards the purpose of short term parking.
While long term parking typically favors residents who live on the block,
allowing them to leave their cars for extended periods of time, short term
parking allows a higher number of people to park in a single spot per hour,
benefitting more people in the city.

The article ends with a threatening quote from Palmquist: "We
will pursue this as far as we have to pursue it. Believe me, this isn’t going
to go away easily." That’s a lot of effort for a few parking spots.

The lingering and unanswered question is, if the parking
restrictions disrupt Palmquist’s protest group, wouldn’t it similarly disrupt regular
visitors to the clinic? If so, why are they protesting the new restrictions?