(Oregon Right to Life) — Pro-life pregnancy resource centers are defending their First Amendment rights before the U.S. Supreme Court, pushing back against what they argue is hostility by New Jersey’s attorney general toward their pro-life mission.
On Tuesday, a network of five New Jersey pro-life pregnancy resource centers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow them to pursue a First Amendment complaint against New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin in federal court.
The action stems from a sweeping 2023 investigative subpoena issued to First Choice Women’s Resource Centers by the Democrat attorney general.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative Christian law firm, is representing First Choice. In a statement, the ADF explained the pro-life pregnancy resource network “is asking the Supreme Court to allow it to challenge in federal court an unconstitutional, predatory subpoena issued by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin,” adding that Platkin “demanded that First Choice disclose the names, phone numbers, addresses, and places of employment of many of its donors, in addition to up to 10 years of its internal confidential documents.”
The subpoena sought thousands of pages of documents to allegedly determine whether the pro-life pregnancy resource centers “engaged in deceptive or otherwise unlawful conduct,” ABC News reported. That’s in spite of the fact that, on Tuesday, state government attorney Sundeep Iyer acknowledged that the government had received “no complaints” about the pro-life resource centers’ practices.
However, he argued that governments “initiate investigations all the time in the absence of complaints where they have a reason to suspect that there could be potential issues of legal compliance,” arguing there was “more than ample basis to initiate” an investigation, including allegedly “misleading or untrue” statements made by the pro-life centers.
“Well, that just seems a burdensome way to find out whether someone has a confusing website,” U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas remarked on Tuesday.
In a statement, ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President Erin Hawley, who argued the case before the Supreme Court, argued that New Jersey’s investigation of the pro-life centers was actually initiated because of their pro-life beliefs.
“New Jersey’s attorney general is targeting First Choice — a ministry that provides parenting classes, free ultrasounds, baby clothes, and more to its community — simply because of its pro-life views,” Hawley said. “The Constitution protects First Choice and its donors from demands by a hostile state official to disclose donor identities and contact information, and First Choice is entitled to vindicate those rights in federal court.”
Pro-life organizations have applauded the U.S. Supreme Court for hearing the pro-life pregnancy centers’ case.
“No government official needs to know which charitable organizations Americans support, and no attorney general should be allowed to misuse state power to intimidate or harass pro-life groups,” National Right to Life president Carol Tobias said in a statement. “Forcing disclosure of donor information has been used throughout history as a political weapon. This kind of government overreach chills free speech, threatens the safety and privacy of donors, and diverts vital resources away from helping women and saving lives.”
“Political disagreements must never become an excuse to weaponize the investigative power of the state,” Tobias said. “If officials can rummage through the private records of a pregnancy help center without cause, then no nonprofit—regardless of its mission—will be safe.”
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser also reacted to the news, underscoring the contributions that pro-life pregnancy resource centers like First Choice Women’s Resource Centers make in the communities they serve in light of a recent analysis finding that centers like First Choice provided nearly half a billion dollars worth of resources to moms and families last year alone.
“Democrats have waged a campaign of harassment towards pregnancy centers and seek ultimately to shut them down, proving they are not ‘pro-choice’ but merely pro-abortion,” Dannenfelser said. “Pregnancy centers are the beating heart of the pro-life movement. They’re heroes in our communities, providing the authentic help women need and want to choose life for their children, in contrast to the profit-driven abortion industry which just offers them deadly abortion drugs, increasingly without even an in-person visit to screen for coercion or abuse.”
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A 2023 peer-reviewed study found that 70% of abortions are “coerced, unwanted or inconsistent with women’s preferences.” Meanwhile, a new Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) analysis found that 2,775 pregnancy centers throughout the country provided resources – including medical care, education, and tangible materials – valued at over $452 million last year alone. The centers also welcomed more than a million new clients and reported a 98% satisfaction rate among clients.
Charlotte Lozier Institute executive director Karen Czarnecki said in a statement that the results of the study show that the efforts of pregnancy resource centers ought to “be applauded, not undermined.”
“Despite repeated pro-abortion attacks against pregnancy centers, the facts remain unchanged: women and families depend on the services of these centers,” Czarnecki said. “CLI’s newest report shows growing demand for pregnancy centers, strong client satisfaction, and life-changing support for those seeking hope, help and alternatives to abortion. Pregnancy centers walk alongside women, men and families to provide love, education and support so they can courageously choose life.”
The Supreme Court case and the new analysis highlighting the contributions of pro-life pregnancy resource centers follow a report earlier this year finding that Heartbeat
International-affiliated pro-life centers conducted 2,164,043 in-person client visits in 2024,
In the U.S., pregnancy resource centers currently outnumber Planned Parenthood abortion facilities 15–1 and provide a wide range of life-affirming services and resources to mothers and families, including ultrasounds, counseling, baby supplies, and adoption referrals.
