A Portland City Council committee decided Tuesday to put off making a recommendation to the council on regulating anti-abortion protests outside Planned Parenthood’s clinic on Congress Street. The Public Safety, Health and Human Services Committee wants another month to consider the options in the wake of the city’s decision in July to repeal its 39-foot buffer zone around the clinic.

Meanwhile, a city attorney recommended Tuesday night that Planned Parenthood seek a court injunction, or that Portland legislators sponsor changes to state law as ways to shield patients from anti-abortion protesters outside the clinic.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that 35-foot buffer zones around clinics in Massachusetts violated the free-speech rights of anti-abortion demonstrators. The councilors voted on July 7 to remove the buffer zone, while vowing to seek alternative ways to keep protesters away from Planned Parenthood patients.

That discussion was taken up at meeting Tuesday, when the committee ultimately decided it needed more time to study laws in other states and consult with the Maine Attorney General’s Office before revisiting the issue at its meeting in October.

The City Council voted unanimously in November to adopt the buffer zone in response to weekly protests outside the Planned Parenthood clinic, where anywhere from five to 15 anti-abortion activists, including children, hold signs and hand out pamphlets urging women to choose alternatives to abortion.

Trish McAllister, an attorney for the city, said Tuesday she spoke with Planned Parenthood about banning protesters from coming within six to eight feet of the building, essentially pushing them to the street-side of the sidewalk and preventing protesters from forming a tunnel that patients must walk through to get to the entrance.

However, she said that also would constitute a fixed buffer zone, which has been deemed unconstitutional.

In fact, she said, any regulation the city tried to impose “probably will affect speech in some respect,” and therefore not stand up to a legal challenge.

McAllister said Planned Parenthood would probably have better luck seeking an injunction from the court itself — something that has held up at clinics elsewhere.

She also said the city’s Legislative Committee could seek amendments to state laws, like Massachusetts legislators did after the Supreme Court decision.

A new law in that state enables police officers to “order the immediate dispersal of a gathering that substantially impedes access to or departure from an entrance or a driveway to a reproductive health care facility.” It also imposes fines on people who intimidate or attempt to intimidate anyone trying to enter or leave a reproductive health care facility.

Councilor Ed Suslovic would like the Legislative Committee, of which he is a member, to discuss additions to state law and wants the city’s delegation to sponsor them.

He and Councilor Cheryl Leeman both said they didn’t want to waste staff time and taxpayer money on regulations that won’t hold up in court.

City attorneys said Tuesday they don’t yet know how much the city has spent defending the buffer zone, partially because the lawsuit filed by protesters is ongoing.

Although the city filed a motion to dismiss the suit after the buffer zone was repealed, the attorney for the protesters said they’re still seeking a ruling that’s specific to Portland’s ordinance. McAllister said the protesters also want the city to cover their attorney’s fees.

Councilor Jill Duson suggested that the committee take more time to consider its options, rather than accept the city staff’s recommendation not to pursue additional regulations.

“I am not yet at the point where I’m just ready to throw up my hands and say, ‘We can’t do anything,’ ” she said.

Leslie Bridgers can be contacted at 791-6364 or at:

lbridgers@pressherald.com

Twitter: @lesliebridgers

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