AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine’s attorney general is backing an effort to defend buffer zones at health clinics, like one recently approved in Maine.

Attorney General Janet Mills said she recently signed onto an amicus brief in a case reviewing a Massachusetts law creating a buffer zone around the entrances and driveways of health care clinics.

Mills said the case is expected to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court at the beginning of next year.

Last week, the Portland City Council unanimously approved the creation of a 39-foot zone around entrances to reproductive health care facilities from which anti-abortion protesters would be barred. Portland has one Planned Parenthood clinic.

Mills said in a statement that women have the right to seek health care without fear and harassment.