Life & Free Speech Upheld by Supreme Court
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, July 13, 2018 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler
On June 26th the Supreme Court overruled a California law that (a) forced medically licensed pro-life pregnancy centers to post in a conspicuous place in their waiting rooms signs in 22-inch font or distribute forms advertising that the state offers free or low-cost abortions. That law, also, (b) required pregnancy centers dedicated to ending abortion to include on that sign a phone number that would refer women to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.
But that law went further. It forced pregnancy centers, including religious pro-life centers that are not medically licensed by the state, to post in waiting rooms and advertisements a disclaimer in up to 13 different languages, that they are not a medical facility. During the hearing, Justice Kennedy asked, “What would happen if an unlicensed entity, unlicensed center, just had a billboard that said ‘Choose Life.’ Would they have to make the disclosure?”
The answer was “yes.” That center would have to post a disclaimer on that billboard, in the same size font as “Choose Life,” in up to 13 different languages, which would completely drown out the pro-life message.Thomas Glessner, founder and president of the public interest law firm that filed the lawsuit against that California law in 2016, asked, “Can the government impose and compel a faith-based ministry to proclaim a message that they are fundamentally opposed to with the risk of being fined or shut down?” Under that law, the answer would be “yes.” So, he added, “[It’s] scandalous that the law allows a multimillion-dollar abortion industry to bully small non-profits.” The bottom line: The California law mandated compelled speech, which is unconstitutional.
The Christian non-profit organization Alliance Defending Freedom represented the pro-life position at the Supreme Court and, by a 5 to 4 vote, won the case for life and free speech. Legal Counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom said, “It is unjust for the government to force anyone to speak a message they disagree with – and to punish them if they don’t.” That statement referred to the law’s penalty provision that imposed $500 fines for a first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.
Although New York, Texas, and Maryland have invalidated laws similar to California’s law, Hawaii and Illinois currently have such laws on their books. However, since the Hawaii pregnancy center is in a church, the California decision might overturn the Hawaii law, too.
For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent