The Supreme Court handed a big win to the pro-life movement on Tuesday. In a 5–4 decision in NIFLA v. Becerra, the justices ruled that California can’t force crisis-pregnancy centers to post signs about state-sponsored abortion services, regardless of whether those facilities are licensed medical providers or not. The decision vindicated pro-life advocates who have long argued that states and cities unfairly target these centers, which exist to provide alternative pregnancy services to women who don’t want abortions. Even more importantly, the decision vindicated pro-life voters, who look to the Supreme Court to limit abortion rights in America.
The law at stake in the case is the 2015 California fact Act, which was passed after legislators and activists became concerned about the rise of crisis-pregnancy centers in the state. Many of these centers have been around for decades, and were designed to offer services to women who are unexpectedly pregnant, but unsure about getting an abortion. Pro-choice activists argue that these centers behave deceptively, falsely claim to offer a full range of pregnancy services, and steer women away from the low-cost family-planning services provided by the state. Legislators took these arguments at face value, passing a law that required licensed facilities to post information about the state’s services. It also required unlicensed facilities to post a notice stating that that they are not medical providers.
Several of the crisis-pregnancy centers pushed back. They argued that these notices would effectively require them to advocate for the very service that they exist to oppose: abortion. Many of the centers have a religious mission, and many of their employees and volunteers are drawn to their work because of their faith. California had violated First Amendment rights of these people, they said, because it compelled them to speak in violation of their consciences.
One of the big questions in the case is whether California can regulate notices in crisis-pregnancy centers as a form of “professional speech”—a somewhat fuzzy legal category that allows states to require doctors and lawyers to disclose medical or ethical facts, for example. California argued that these crisis-pregnancy centers are licensed medical providers, and should be regulated that way; it also has an interest in making sure women aren’t confused about the nature of unlicensed facilities. Thomas, along with the rest of the conservative justices on the court, disagreed. Read more via the Atlantic