Crisis Pregnancy Centers Facing First Amendment Battle

Wednesday, 08 June 2011

Efforts to stop the work of crisis pregnancy centers are gaining momentum.

In a move to keep these services up and running, the American Center for Law and Justice this week filed an amicus brief in federal appeals court on a Baltimore ordinance targeting crisis pregnancy centers, and is also challenging a similar ordinance in New York City.

Specifically, a federal district court in Baltimore declared earlier this year that a law requiring pro-life pregnancy centers to post signs indicating they do not offer abortions or birth control violates the free speech clause of the First Amendment.

"There's a concerted effort on behalf of pro-abortion organizations to systematically target and punish crisis pregnancy centers in cities across America," says CeCe Heil, senior counsel of the ACLJ. "The Baltimore ordinance was the first of its kind, and now other cities are following suit. We're hopeful that these laws, including the one in New York City that we're challenging in federal court, will ultimately be exposed for exactly what they do: violate the First Amendment rights of crisis pregnancy centers." the rest