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It may very well be illegal, particularly if they are deliberately blocking access to the clinics. During the Republican National Convention in Houston years back, similar protests were held and a clinic sued for an injunction against further protests. I was told by the judge (after she was no longer on the bench) a number of interesting things. First, the protesters used their children on the front lines. Second, the attorneys for the protesters were poorly prepared and made innumerable rudimentary errors in procedure and evidence. Their appeal to the court was thus almost purely emotional. Under the law and the plain facts, she had little choice but to issue the injunction. Third, the injunction caused a personal nightmare for the judge. Since judges are often asked to rule on things in an expedited manner, their home phone numbers are a matter of public information. This judge got calls 24 - 7 for weeks, almost exclusively from protesters and their families. She said the most disgusting ones were where they would have little kids call her and leave horrible messages. The best one, however, was the Christian nutjob who called from another state. He had the astonishing chutzpah to call her collect!
I would consider this a form of child abuse, but I'd hesitate to bring the force of the state to bear on it, because I really don't trust the state to be the arbiter of child abuse that is not obviously physical.
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