The freedom of pro-life pregnancy centers to determine their message to abortion-minded women has received contrasting verdicts from the federal court system recently.
On Oct. 14 the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco refused to grant an injunction to block a California law that requires pro-life pregnancy centers to notify their clients of the availability of abortion services elsewhere.
Ten days earlier, however, a federal judge in Maryland ruled a Baltimore law violates the free-speech rights of the Center for Pregnancy Concerns, thereby protecting the right of the charity to control what it communicates to the women it serves.
Limiting impact
The rulings affect laws that limit the impact of pro-life centers that provide free services to pregnant women. With the aid of ultrasound machines that demonstrate the humanity of the unborn child, such pregnancy centers are helping women decide to give birth. The centers also provide such services as medical consultations, baby clothing and diapers, job training, mentoring programs, and prenatal and parenting classes.
In Alabama there are no laws that limit pro-life pregnancy centers, according to Eric Johnston, president of Alabama Pro-Life Coalition, “because there’s never been an issue with them.”
Johnston noted that Alabama’s centers are “very well run and operated and have many years of experience. They know what they’re doing and they do a good job.”
That being so, Johnston doesn’t foresee laws limiting pregnancy centers coming to the state in the future.
Alabama law does include the following restrictions on abortions, according to a report by Guttmacher Institute.
4A woman must receive state-directed counseling (including information designed to discourage an abortion).
4The parent of a minor must consent before an abortion is provided.
4A woman must undergo an ultrasound prior to an abortion and must be given the option to view the image.
In the Ninth Circuit Court ruling, “the most liberal circuit court in the country,” according to Johnston, a three-judge panel refused to block enforcement of a 2015 California law that requires licensed pregnancy centers to post a notice for clients that says, “California has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services (including all FDA-approved methods of contraception), prenatal care and abortion for eligible women.”
Matt Bowman, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which represents the pregnancy centers, said, “Forcing these centers to promote abortion and recite the government’s preferred views is a clear violation of their constitutionally protected First Amendment freedoms.”
Johnston agreed, noting that these types of laws are “diminishing the credibility of the pregnancy centers by making them put up huge signs on the main walls of the center that imply, ‘We’re not going to give you full service’ and ‘We’re not a medical clinic.’ It’s just ridiculous,” he said.
Government mandates
The Baltimore ordinance, adopted in 2009, mandates pregnancy centers display signs saying they do not provide abortions or contraceptives.
Federal judge Marvin Garbis ruled the law violates the freedom of speech of the Center for Pregnancy Concerns (CPC) specifically, but he did not invalidate the measure.
The city’s mandate “forces pregnancy centers to begin their conversations with a stark government disclaimer, divorced from the support offered by the center and suggesting that abortion is available elsewhere and might be considered a good option by pregnant women — a message that the center expressly finds morally offensive and would not otherwise provide,” Garbis wrote in his opinion, according to The Baltimore Sun. (BP, TAB)
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