A Massachusetts pregnancy resource center is appealing its suit against the state after a federal district court dismissed the center’s argument that Massachusetts officials are targeting and suppressing pro-life viewpoints and speech they disagree with.
Your Options Medical (YOM) sued Massachusetts officials in 2024 after the state launched a campaign that painted pregnancy resource centers as “dangerous” organizations that mislead and misinform pregnant women about their options. According to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), one of the legal organizations representing YOM, government officials partnered with a pro-abortion activist group to work on the campaign messaging and file complaints against pro-life centers.
The ACLJ reported that the district court held that Massachusetts officials were promoting public health and expressing their own viewpoints and dismissed the case. However, the legal organization argues that the court examined the state’s actions against YOM individually rather than taking them together in context.
“When viewed as a coordinated whole, the allegations we put forward plausibly describe more than neutral public health messaging – they describe a government-driven effort to stigmatize and silence disfavored speech,” the ACLJ stated.
The legal organization added that the First Amendment protects YOM from government coercion, intimidation, and regulatory pressure, but that Massachusetts is violating its rights and causing harm to the pro-life center.
“The Constitution does not allow government officials to chill speech through intimidation and regulatory pressure,” the ACLJ said. “It does not permit viewpoint discrimination disguised as public health messaging. And it does not allow the targeting of religious ministries because of their beliefs.”
The ACLJ has said it will take the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and has pledged to continue the legal battle even to the U.S. Supreme Court.