
Supreme Court to Rule Whether Pro-Life Pregnancy Center Can Avoid Subpoena
Key Takeaways
- The Supreme Court will review a case involving First Choice's challenge to a New Jersey subpoena for records related to potential public misrepresentation.
- New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act prohibits misleading the public, with significant penalties for violations, and is central to the state's investigation.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said the question before the court is whether First Choice Women's Resource Centers can ignore a subpoena amid a state consumer fraud investigation.
New Jersey’s investigation into whether a faith-based pregnancy center misled the public into thinking it provided referrals for abortion will remain on hold, as the Supreme Court of the United States
The justices will hear an appeal from
“First Choice—a crisis pregnancy center operating in New Jersey—has for years refused to answer questions about their operations in New Jersey and the potential misrepresentations they have been making, including about reproductive healthcare,” Platkin
New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act is one of the
The First Choice website does not state whether the center provides abortion referrals, but it does feature a box that reads, “I am considering an abortion.” A button invites users to “Learn more about the abortion pill, abortion procedures, and your options in New Jersey.”
Platkin said that the question before the Supreme Court is procedural—it focuses on whether First Choice sued prematurely, “not whether our subpoena was valid.” He expressed confidence that the state would prevail when the Supreme Court takes up the case this fall. He said the pregnancy center seeks a “special exception” from complying with a “lawful state subpoena, something the US Constitution does not permit it to do.”
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case comes nearly 3 years after it reversed Roe v Wade, which in 1973 gave women a constitutional right to abortion. Many Republican-controlled states immediately began
Attorneys for First Choice described the organization as a “faith-based, pro-life pregnancy center.” Across the country, many such centers—which may include the word “choice” in their names—
First Choice has challenged the New Jersey subpoena in federal court, where a district judge
Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the pregnancy center.
“New Jersey’s attorney general is targeting First Choice — a ministry that provides parenting classes, free ultrasounds, baby clothes, and more to its community—simply because of its pro-life views,”
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