Wednesday, June 27, 2018

US Supreme Court Protects Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers

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The United States Supreme Court ruled yesterday, 5-4, that California cannot force pro-life pregnancy centers in the state to advertise abortions.

Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority, said the California law "likely violates the First Amendment"---thus knocking down the abortion industry's claim that pro-life centers put out "deceptive advertising."

Be informed.


At issue was a California law that forced pro-life pregnancy centers to advertise and direct women to abortion services.

This decision will have an immediate significant effect on similar laws in Hawaii and Illinois.

Thomas's opinion rejected the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit's holding that these types of notices, required in the context of state licensing, were a separate category of "professional speech" that did not receive the full measure of the First Amendment's free speech protections.

Thomas wrote, "This Court has not recognized 'professional speech' as a separate category of speech. Speech is not unprotected merely because it is uttered by 'professionals'."

Most Pregnancy Centers are "licensed" facilities, and would have been required to post this message in bold print:
California has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services (including all FDA-approved methods of contraception), prenatal care, and abortion for eligible women. To determine whether you qualify, contact the county social services office at [insert the telephone number].

Unlicensed facilities, meanwhile, had to post the following:
“This facility is not licensed as a medical facility by the State of California and has no licensed medical provider who provides or directly supervises the provision of services.”

Essentially, what the abortion industry was trying to do was place the pregnancy centers under what is considered "commercial speech," which has to do with misleading advertising and other misrepresentations.

But the Court didn't buy it.

Last April, LifeSite News wrote an excellent article revealing how the Left and the abortion industry has tried to exploit the "commercial speech" laws to essentially shut down pregnancy centers.

Behind it all is---of course---Planned Parenthood, the great deceiver.

The Left has continually attacked pregnancy centers publicly, calling them practitioners of "emotional manipulation," "disingenuous," and "predatory."

In regard to being misleading, Planned Parenthood's name itself is misleading.

A Live Action investigation last year found that 92 out of 97 Planned Parenthood locations did not offer prenatal services to women who choose parenthood.

When cornered, Planned Parenthood most often claims that their focus is on birth control so we can have fewer teen pregnancies, therefore fewer abortions.

However, that too is untruthful.

Mary Eberstadt, senior research Fellow at the Faith & Reason Institute, says studies show that historically, an "increased use of contraception has also increased abortion."

The news media, and certainly the entertainment industry has mocked pregnancy centers and those who support and operate them---while Planned Parenthood has made every effort to "abort" them because that's what PP does, but the Supreme Court has canceled the "abortion appointment" for now.

Pregnancy centers will continue to do the work of the Lord, without the foot of the State on their neck.

Pro-life lawyer, Michael Farris, representing the pregnancy centers, told the Court earlier: "Tolerance and respect for good-faith differences of opinion are essential in a diverse society like ours. They enable us to peacefully coexist with one another. If we want to have freedom for ourselves, we have to extend it to others."

While this may be a new concept to the billion dollar industry built on so-called "choice," it's a virtue long held by conservative, Christian pro-life people.

Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Faithful. Be Pro-Life. Be Blessed.