A federal court has granted a big win for free speech for crisis pregnancy centers.
In the case Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns, Inc. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, a Maryland federal district court ruled that a city ordinance which required crisis pregnancy centers to post disclaimers stating that they do not provide or make referrals for abortion or birth control services, is unconstitutional.
The court said in part, according to Religion Clause,:
The City identifies two interests to support the Ordinance: (1) to protect the public from deceptive business practices, and (2) to promote public health by “ensuring that individuals who seek reproductive health services have access to truthful information about the services available at Pregnancy Centers.”…
[H]ere, even if there had been bountiful evidence of misleading advertising, there is no evidence that women were coming to the Center under false pretenses and suffering harmful health consequences because of it. Thus, the City has not satisfied the “demanding standard” of showing that the Ordinance actually promotes a compelling interest in solving a specific problem.
That’s the thing that pro-aborts always say. They have to restrict free speech because pro-lifers are liar pants. But unfortunately the whole “liar pants” defense didn’t work in court. Shocking, I know.
Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Matt Bowman said, “No American should be forced to promote activities or speak messages that violate their deepest convictions, as Baltimore’s ordinance required. That law is very similar to ones in other places of the country, such as California and Illinois, where ADF is currently seeking to protect the constitutionally protected freedoms of other pregnancy resource centers that are being threatened by the government. The court’s decision in this case will provide persuasive precedent to defend free speech there and in other states. We commend allied attorney Mark Rienzi and the rest of the pregnancy centers’ legal team for this important First Amendment victory.”
You see, I send you into the weekend with some good news. After that, you’re on your own.
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