Bus rider banned over birth-control advice

updated 9:36 p.m. ET June 29, 2007

LOGAN, Utah - A 76-year-old woman has been barred from the bus station after giving unwanted birth-control advice to mothers with large families.

"I think it's wrong. It's a violation of my First Amendment rights," Laura Stevens said.

She was arrested Tuesday for trespassing, a misdemeanor, according to police records.

"She's been making comments to some of the Hispanic passengers that they should be on the pill, that they're taking over our society," said Todd Beutler, general manager of the Cache Valley Transit District.

"The passengers have a right to ride and not be intimidated," he said.

Stevens said she recently noticed a mother struggling to control her six children.

"I felt sorry for her. Maybe she doesn't know that she could get a patch and not have a kid for five years," Stevens said.

She said she will fight the trespassing charge when she appears in Logan's Municipal Court on Tuesday.

"We want her to ride the bus," Beutler said. "We just need to make sure that she's not harassing any other passengers."

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