Two “bubble zone” proposals gaining momentum would require protesters to give eight feet of space to people entering abortion clinics, schools and places of worship across swaths of Los Angeles County.

Citing a rise in violent and disorderly protests, Los Angeles County and city officials inched forward with the proposal on Tuesday. The proposal would make it a misdemeanor for protesters to intentionally block the entrance to a medical facility, school or religious institution or demonstrate within eight feet of someone trying to enter. An eight-foot protective “bubble” would be required within 100 feet of the facility's entrance.

The supervisory committee unanimously Voted On Tuesday, he asked the county's attorney to draft an ordinance that would apply to the unincorporated area, which is home to 1 million people.

Los Angeles City Council members Katie Yaroslavsky and Bob Blumenfield have introduced a nearly identical motion, which is expected to be presented to the City Council's Public Safety Committee in the coming weeks.

“Here in Los Angeles County, we have seen intimidation used to prevent community members from entering facilities and receiving essential services,” Supervisor Lindsay Holbert, who wrote the county policy, said in a statement.

In June, pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated in front of Temple Pico Robertson, which is part of Holbert's district. The protests turned violent and drew condemnation from the White House, with several Jewish advocacy groups writing: Letter of Support He said he supported Holbert's proposal and believes the law would protect the Jewish community from growing threats from Jews. Hate crime Threats against synagogues.

Salam al-Marayati, president of the Islamic Public Affairs Council, agreed that protesters needed to “respect people's access” to places of worship. But in an interview, he said he had “little confidence” that police would enforce the law equally and believed it could be weaponized to quell student protests against the Gaza war.

Under the county's proposal, protesters would be prohibited from engaging in “verbal protest” within eight feet of anyone near school entrances.

“People walking on the sidewalks protesting the massacres in Gaza should be protected,” Al-Marayati said. “This measure does not guarantee that these legitimate and peaceful protests will be protected.”

Al Marayati said he learned about the county's proposal on Monday.

“No one consulted us about this measure. Local residents told us about it and we found it on the agenda,” he said. “There were no calls, no emails, no invitations.”

The county proposal would also restrict protests at health care facilities, particularly Planned Parenthood clinics, which Sue Dunlap, president of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, said she hopes would de-escalate the violence that has spiked since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“You have to see it to understand what it's like,” Dunlap said. “It's insanity. 800 people surrounding a building the size of a standalone Starbucks.”

At Tuesday's commission meeting, several anti-abortion protesters spoke out against the county's proposal, saying they have not encountered any violence or property damage during their protests. “We are peaceful people,” said one man who has been protesting in the county for 25 years.

Jenny Dodson Mistry, of the National Institute for Reproductive Health, said bubble zone laws could help keep clinic staff and patients safe, as long as they were actively enforced and protesters and health care workers were educated about them.

“You can't see the bubbles,” she pointed out.

County officials plan to model the law on a Colorado law that was one of the first in the nation and survived a lawsuit from anti-abortion activists. The law was upheld by the Supreme Court and Domination Bubble zones do not violate the right to free speech.

The Los Angeles proposal appears to be broader in scope than the county's, as it would ban protesters from blocking “community/public” facilities, as well as medical, educational and religious facilities.

Leo Daub, a spokesman for Yaroslavsky, said the proposed city ordinance would also prohibit protesters at those locations from coming within 8 feet of others without permission.