PORTLAND (AP) — A legal challenge to Portland’s city ordinance that establishes a buffer zone around entrances to women’s health clinics from which anti-abortion protesters are barred is being heard by a federal judge.

The Portland Press Herald (http://bit.ly/1lErAyc ) reported that attorneys are scheduled to make their cases Thursday in U.S. District Court in Portland.

Portland approved the creation of a 39-foot zone around entrances to reproductive health care facilities in November. The city has one Planned Parenthood clinic.

Supporters said it protects patients from harassment.

In February, a Shapleigh family filed a challenge. Daniel and Marguerite Fitzgerald and their children say the zone violates their constitutional free speech rights and their rights that prohibit unlawful search and seizure.

A similar case in Massachusetts could soon be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.