Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agreed New Jersey pregnancy centers can defend themselves from government overreach.
In 2023, the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office subpoenaed a massive amount of information from First Choice Women’s Resource Centers in New Jersey — including donor information that may be sensitive.
In response, First Choice filed a federal lawsuit to protect its sensitive data from government overreach, and the attorney general sued to force First Choice to hand over the documents.
After two years in court, on Wednesday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of First Choice.
In the ruling, Justice Neil Gorsuch pointed out that the New Jersey Attorney General’s office targeted First Choice despite receiving no consumer complaints against the pro-life group, writing:
“The [New Jersey] Attorney General served a subpoena on First Choice, commanding the group to produce 28 categories of documents, including documents reflecting the names, phone numbers, addresses, and places of employment of all individuals who had made donations to First Choice by any means other than through one specific webpage. Effectively, that demand required First Choice to provide personal information about donors who gave through two other websites, through the group’s various social media pages, by mail, in person, or by any other means. The subpoena warned twice that failure to comply may render the group liable for contempt of court and other penalties. . . .
“Since the 1950s, this Court has confronted one official demand after another like the Attorney General’s. Over and again, we have held those demands burden the exercise of First Amendment rights. Disputing none of these precedents but seeking ways around them, the Attorney General has offered a variety of arguments. Some are old, some are new, but none succeeds.”
This is really good news. Last summer, Family Council joined a coalition of pro-life groups in an amicus brief supporting First Choice’s lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court. We are glad to see the Court rule in First Choice’s favor.
Pregnancy resource centers offer women real options besides abortion. Many of these centers provide everything from ultrasounds and pregnancy tests to maternity clothes and adoption referrals — typically free of charge.
That’s part of the reason Arkansas provides millions of dollars in publicly funded grants for these organizations. It’s a way Arkansas can use public funds to support women and children without expanding government or creating new state programs.
Family Council is pleased to stand up for pro-life pregnancy resource centers in Arkansas and around the country. We hope all of our state and federal officials will continue to do so as well.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
