By Joy Allmond
Several organizations have filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of pro-life speech.
A recently passed California law requires pro-life pregnancy center workers to notify clients of state-offered abortion services. Failure to comply could result in steep fines.
These centers offer free services to women in crisis pregnancies to encourage them to carry their babies to term. Their offerings include ultrasounds, medical consultation, parenting classes, and physical baby essentials like clothing and diapers.
“The outrageous demands being made in this case strike at the very heart of the freedom this nation has always sought to uphold and protect,” Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, told Baptist Press.
The ERLC—the policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention—has joined with the National Association of Evangelicals, Concerned Women for America, Samaritan’s Purse, and the National Legal Foundation to file the brief.
Palmer Williams, a founding partner with The Peacefield Group and legal consultant for the ERLC, explained the implications of this law.
“While there are many legal standards and nuances discussed in our brief, our message is a simple and clear one,” she wrote on the ERLC website.
“The Supreme Court must strike down this California law because it compels pro-life pregnancy centers to deliver a pro-abortion viewpoint, something antithetical to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments for National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General of California on March 20, and a ruling is expected before the justices adjourn this summer.
Related:
- 5 Practical Ways to Be a Pro-Life Champion in Your Church
- Desperate Choices: How Your Church Responds to an Unplanned Pregnancy Could Mean the Difference Between Life and Death
JOY ALLMOND (@JoyAllmond) is managing editor of Facts & Trends.
