By Dave Andrusko
National Right to LifeDavid Savage, a veteran reporter, “has covered the Supreme Court and legal issues for the Los Angeles Times in the Washington bureau since 1986.” While I often disagree with him, nonetheless he is well respected and has very good contacts.
Savage ran a fascinating piece that appeared this morning that is of intense interest to pregnancy help centers in particular, defenders of the First Amendment in general.
As NRL News Today readers recall, Jay Hobbs of Pregnancy Help News has written story after story tracing the judicial arc of National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, a “challenge to a 2015 California state law that forces locally funded pro-life medical clinics to advertise taxpayer-funded abortions.”
Savage writes that as early as Monday the justices could decide whether they will hear the case. “The justices have considered the appeals for more than three weeks in their weekly conferences, suggesting at least several of them are inclined to hear the cases,” he wrote.
The lawsuit is against California’s so-called Reproductive FACT Act. Ostensibly it is a law (as Savage wrote) passed because the legislature was “concerned that the more than 200 pregnancy centers in California sometimes provided ‘intentionally deceptive advertising and counseling practices that often confuse, misinform and even intimidate women from making fully informed decisions’ about their medical care.”
That no such behavior has occurred and that this is blatantly coerced speech did not bother a panel of the frequently reversed 9th Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. “In a 3-0 ruling, the judges said the state has ample authority to regulate professional speech’ to protect the welfare of patients,” Savage explained.
Hobbs explained how elaborate and detailed are the requirements mandated under the so-called Reproductive FACT Act.
The notice, which the law specifies must either be posted as a public notice in “22-point type,” “distributed to all clients in no less than 14-point font” or distributed digitally “at the time of check-in or arrival,” applies to all pregnancy help medical clinics licensed by the state.
“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].”
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