For nearly three years, it has seemed inevitable that the Supreme Court would strike down the “buffer zones” that restrict protests near the entrances of reproductive health clinics. A majority of the court has already castigated these laws—and past precedent upholding them—as a subversion of anti-abortion protesters’ First Amendment rights.

The Supreme Court turned away two appeals asking the justices to overrule a 25-year-old decision that allowed for buffer zones around abortion clinics.