Life News
A Redding, California pregnancy center says it will not comply with a new state law that forces it to advertise and promote abortions.
Few, if any, pregnancy resource centers are complying with the onerous new California law while it is being challenged in the courts. The radical, pro-abortion law took effect in December, forcing about 150 pro-life non-profits to choose between advertising free and low-cost abortions through the state or facing fines of up to $1,000 if they do not comply.
According to the Record Searchlight, the Care Net pregnancy centers in Redding and Red Bluff, California do not plan to post the required abortion signs in their centers or refer women for abortions through the state Medi-Cal program.
Shelly Gibbs, executive director of the Redding center, said they do refer women to state programs for help with pregnancy and parenting.
“We’re just not using language about ‘this is how you get an abortion,’” she said. “We focus our time solely on how we can support families.”
The Care Net centers are among the pro-life groups that filed lawsuits against the new state law, arguing that it violates their First Amendment freedom of speech. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on the case last week, according to the report.
Kevin T. Snider, an attorney with the Pacific Justice Institute who is representing Care Net, told the news outlet that the new law is unconstitutional because it compels speech.
“We believe that right to free speech is strong in this area,” Snider said. “We believe eventually that our clients’ rights will be vindicated.”
The Care Net centers are not the only ones refusing to comply with the pro-abortion law.KPCC reported that six of eight Los Angeles-area pregnancy centers refused to follow the abortion-promoting law. In March, the Sacramento Bee also reported at least two pregnancy centers in the Sacramento area were not following the pro-abortion law.
No comments:
Post a Comment