Abortion opponents wanted the Supreme Court to scrap protest restrictions around clinics. Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said they would have taken the case.

At issue was a 25-year precedent that allows local governments to create protest-free buffer zones around all health-care facilities, not just abortion clinics.

The Supreme Court opted against hearing arguments in a pair of appeals Monday seeking to wipe out protest buffer zones around abortion clinics – a move that, for now, will leave those restrictions in place.