Washington ? Supreme Court justices took on the contentious issues of abortion, free speech and violent protest Wednesday, hearing arguments on whether federal laws intended to combat organized crime and corruption could be used to punish anti-abortion demonstrators.

Activists like actor Martin Sheen, animal rights groups and even some organizations that support abortion rights are siding with anti-abortion forces because of concerns they too could face harsher penalties for demonstrating.

The court must decide whether abortion clinic protesters who use tactics like blockades can be given large penalties under federal racketeering and extortion laws for interfering with businesses.

Such laws are intended to combat corruption, not punish demonstrators, the court was told by Roy Englert Jr., the lawyer for Operation Rescue and anti-abortion leaders. He said if the high court doesn’t intervene, there could be severe punishment for leaders of any movements “whose followers get out of hand.”

An attorney representing abortion clinics in Delaware and Wisconsin and the National Organization for Women said the laws protect businesses from violent protests that drive away clients.

“As hard as people try to say this case isn’t about abortion, it is about abortion,” Joseph Scheidler, one of the protesters challenging the punishments, said after the case was argued.

He said abortion foes are afraid to protest at clinics because they fear being found guilty of racketeering, instead of something less serious like trespassing.

Scheidler and the others were sued in 1986 by the clinics and accused of blocking clinic entrances, menacing doctors, patients and clinic staff, and destroying equipment during a 15-year campaign to limit abortions. They were ordered to pay about $258,000 in damages and barred from interfering nationwide with the clinics’ business for 10 years.

Protesters from opposite sides of the abortion issue demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court in Washington. The justices heard arguments Wednesday on whether a federal racketeering law intended to combat corruption can be used against the anti-abortion groups who try to disrupt access to clinics.

The punishments were under the 32-year-old Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, and the Hobbs Act, a 1946 law aimed at crushing organized crime. The Hobbs Act makes it a crime to take property from another with force.

The issue dates back to the 1980s when large groups of anti-abortion demonstrators used aggressive tactics to disrupt clinics. The demonstrators contend they did not use violence. In 1998, a jury in Illinois found demonstrators guilty of dozens of violations, including four acts involving physical violence or threats of violence.

In its ruling, the high court must differentiate between protected political activity and that which is illegal.

Outside the court, both sides picketed Wednesday.