Baltimore Law Requiring Christian Pregnancy Centers to Promote Abortion STRUCK DOWN by Court

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down as unconstitutional a law in Baltimore that required pregnancy centers opposed to abortion to post signs about getting abortions.

“The compelled speech at issue here raises particularly troubling First Amendment concerns. At bottom, the disclaimer portrays abortion as one among a menu of morally equivalent choices. While that may be the city’s view, it is not the center’s.”

From the Washington Examiner:

The three-judge panel ruled that the ordinance compelled a “politically and religiously motivated group to convey a message fundamentally at odds with its core belief and mission,” according to the opinion written by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, a President Ronald Reagan appointee.

That is a counterpoint to a Ninth Circuit decision that upheld a similar law in California.

An ordinance passed in 2009 required pregnancy centers that oppose abortion to post a disclaimer in their waiting rooms that they don’t provide or refer people to abortion or birth control services.

The city argued that the ordinance regulates commercial speech because the center advertises its services, but the appeals court didn’t buy that argument since the center is a nonprofit.

The appeals court also agreed with the lower court’s ruling that there was insufficient evidence to show that deception is taking place and that women are being harmed.

“After seven years of litigation and a 1,295-page record before us, the city does not identify a single example of a woman who entered the Greater Baltimore Center’s waiting room under the misimpression that she could obtain and abortion there,” the opinion said.

This is great news for those who care about preserving life, as Steve Ertelt notes at LifeNews.

The court also found that the ordinance represented an impermissible attempt by the City of Baltimore “to use compelled speech as a weapon to run its ideological foes into the ground,” which risks grave violation of the country’s most cherished freedoms.

The decision will help other pregnancy centers fighting similiar laws elsewhere.

There are many such cases, because abortion activists would have you believe that some women don’t know it exists, and that every American must consider it their solemn duty to inform those women about abortion, encourage them to get one, and assist them in finding out where to do so.

The left loves killing babies THAT much.

LifeNews goes on:

“The Baltimore City Ordinance which forced crisis pregnancy centers to speak a message that goes directly against their religious beliefs and mission to save lives is unconstitutional,” said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “The First Amendment protects the right to speak and the right not to speak. This unbelievable government mandate forced pregnancy help centers and staff to be puppets of the government and channel the state’s abortion message.”

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The Catholic Association, which filed an amicus brief in the case, also responded to the decision.

Ashley McGuire told LifeNews: “Today the Fourth Circuit issued a common sense ruling protecting crisis pregnancy centers from being forced to advertise for abortion. This is a decisive victory for the free speech rights of these centers, which serve women and offer them true choices and hope when they are in difficult situations. The court was clear in its ruling, arguing that efforts to force the centers to advertise for abortion amount to “compel[ling] a politically and religiously motivated group to convey a message fundamentally at odds with its core believes and mission.” We now look to the Supreme Court to put an end once and for all to the unconstitutional bullying of pregnancy clinics.”

A good day for the Constitution, for religious freedom, and for the preservation of life.


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