Black Community News News and Commentary for Christians
Matthew Platkin, New Jersey’s attorney general, has harassed First Choice Women’s Resource Centers for daring to save unborn babies with Abortion Pill Reversal (APR).
First Choice focuses on saving the unborn and providing free ultrasounds and testing for sexually-transmitted diseases, clothes for babies, and other services. The organization also administers APR by prescribing progesterone to counter the effects of mifepristone, which induces abortion.
Platkin subpoenaed First Choice to turn over data in an investigation for possible violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. First Choice said doing so would tax their limited resources and violate the confidentiality of donors — although it sent over 2,300 documents to comply, according to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the pregnancy center’s legal counsel.
First Choice sued the state to stop further harassment, and Platkin in turn filed a lawsuit to compel compliance over the protected information. A lower court dismissed the pregnancy center’s complaint on the grounds that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit agreed. First Choice has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The U.S. Constitution protects First Choice and its donors from unjustified demands for their identities and from government threats that attempt to shut down their speech because of its viewpoint,” said Erin Hawley, ADF lawyer.
“The First Amendment protects First Choice’s right to freely speak about its beliefs, exercise its faith, associate with like-minded individuals and organizations, and continue to provide its free services in a caring and compassionate environment to people facing difficult pregnancy circumstances,” Hawley added. “The lower courts have wrongly held that First Choice is relegated to state court to present its constitutional claims. That is inconsistent with civil rights law and with the First Amendment.”
Photo credit: Alliance Defending Freedom
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