Americans should NEVER be forced by our government to promote messages conflicting with their beliefs. However, that is just what was being attempted by the State of California that had passed a law mandating that pro-life pregnancy centers and their staff and volunteers advertise tax-funded abortions. Failure of centers to comply with this abortion promotion mandate would have resulted in fines and penalties that could close their doors for good.
Thankfully, in June the Supreme Court ruled against the California law saying that it “likely violates the First Amendment”. This is a huge win for pregnancy centers nationwide and already we are seeing the ramifications of this ruling as other states or cities who had been proposing or enacting similar legislation or ordinances are facing precedence that their laws may be unconstitutional.
Although pregnancy centers do and will continue to face persecution, we are thrilled with this huge victory! Many thanks to NIFLA (National Institute of Family and Life Advocates), a powerhouse pro-life legal organization representing nearly 1,500 member pregnancy centers, for fighting back against the government overreach in California and to Alliance Defending Freedom for arguing the case before the Supreme Court in March.