In the Press...
LifeSite article featuring Smith's commentary'Supreme Court sides with pro-life pregnancy centers targeted by New Jersey''The Supreme Court unanimously backed a challenge to a subpoena issued by New Jersey's Democratic AG demanding pro-life centers turn over massive amounts of donor records and other documents.'By Raymond Wolfe WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously backed a group of faith-based pregnancy centers suing New Jersey for trying to force them to turn over massive amounts of donor information and confidential internal documents. The justices ruled that First Choice Women’s Resource Centers could challenge in federal court New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s subpoena demanding 28 categories of documents, including records with donors’ names, phone numbers, addresses, and places of employment. According to First Choice’s lawsuit, Platkin’s subpoena demanded “All Documents physically or electronically provided to Clients and/or Donors, Including intake forms, questionnaires, and Pamphlets,” as well as copies of “every solicitation and advertisement” posted by the pregnancy center network, among many other kinds of documentation.
The sweeping subpoena “did not explain why the Attorney General sought First Choice’s donor records,” the Supreme Court noted, and did not cite any evidence of wrongdoing. It also “warned twice that failure to comply may render the group liable for contempt of court and other penalties.” New Jersey AG’s office attorney Sundeep Iyer even admitted during questioning that the office had received “no complaints” about First Choice. Platkin, a strongly pro-abortion Democrat, had also issued a “consumer alert” after the reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022 denouncing pregnancy centers. His office collaborated on the notice with Planned Parenthood, the country’s top abortion vendor, emails later revealed. The alert urged women to distrust pro-life centers, claiming that they may provide “misleading information,” and encouraged them to visit Planned Parenthood’s website. First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, an “abortion clinic alternative,” offers free telehealth nurse consultations, pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, and consultations about abortion information, as well as baby products and other help for pregnant women. It does not offer abortion or birth control or refer for abortions. The Supreme Court said that Platkin’s subpoena caused an “ongoing injury” to the pregnancy centers’ First Amendment rights and sent the case back to the lower courts for “further proceedings consistent with this opinion.” “An official demand for private donor information is enough to discourage reasonable individuals from associating with a group. It is enough to discourage groups from expressing dissident views,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the ruling. “From its allegations and declarations, and given our many and longstanding precedents in the area and reasonable inferences about third party behavior, First Choice has established that the Attorney General’s demand for private donor information injures the group’s First Amendment associational rights,” he added. The Supreme Court’s decision in First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Davenport reverses a lower court ruling holding that the pregnancy centers had to challenge the subpoena first in New Jersey state courts. Rep. Chris Smith, co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, who helped lead an amicus brief of more than 30 congressmen and senators defending First Choice, celebrated the vindication of the pro-life centers. “Today’s unanimous decision by the Supreme Court affirms pregnancy care centers’ constitutionally-protected freedom of association and protects them from intimidation and harassment by hostile state governments,” the New Jersey Republican said. “It sends a clear message to New Jersey and other states that this kind of bullying and infringement of pregnancy care centers’ First Amendment rights will be given no sanction,” he continued. Alliance Defending Freedom has represented First Choice, and the Trump administration has also backed the centers in the case, as has a group of 19 Republican-led states, led by Florida. A brief filed by the GOP states notes that abortion activists unleashed a “wave of domestic terrorism” against pro-life centers after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, attacking more than 70 by the end of August 2022. “In response to Dobbs, Planned Parenthood sponsored hundreds of rallies calling for a ‘summer of rage.’ This call to arms placed pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) – who threaten both Planned Parenthood’s radical pro-abortion agenda and its financial bottom line – directly in the line of fire,” the brief says. It adds that Planned Parenthood for years has also “orchestrated a campaign of harassment and disinformation against PRCs, hoping to hinder their life-affirming mission.” “The New Jersey Attorney General’s abusive disclosure request is the latest in a long line of attempts by Planned Parenthood to chill PRCs in the exercise of their First Amendment rights of association and speech,” it continues. Pro-life pregnancy centers notably provided more than $450 million in goods and services to mothers, fathers, and preborn babies and saw over one million new clients in 2024 alone. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Arizona legislature, and various pro-life groups supported First Choice Women’s Resource Centers as well. However, a coalition of 18 Democratic state attorneys general, led by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, backed New Jersey in its efforts to compel sensitive information from the pregnancy centers. Democrat-led states – including Massachusetts, New York, California, and Colorado – have long smeared and even prosecuted pro-life pregnancy centers for seeking to dissuade women from aborting their babies and for promoting abortion pill reversal. The Democratic Party’s platform includes nationwide, virtually unrestricted, taxpayer-funded abortion-on-demand as a top priority. |
