SCOTUS grants pregnancy centers right to challenge New Jersey probe into donors

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) unanimously ruled April 29 that a New Jersey coalition of pregnancy resource centers may proceed with a First Amendment lawsuit against state officials who demanded private information about the centers’ donors.

SCOTUS held that former New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin’s actions against First Choice Women’s Resource Centers violated the centers’ First Amendment right to freedom of association. As Zeale News previously reported, Platkin subpoenaed First Choice in 2023 and demanded up to 10 years of private records, including donor information, internal documents, and communications.

According to the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), New Jersey also argued that First Choice could lead donors to believe that facilities offer abortions, citing the fact that their donor portal features pictures of people holding babies.

State courts did not overturn the subpoena and instead sought to redraw its scope. When First Choice brought a case to federal courts, those courts decided the suit could only be heard at the state level since the centers had not yet been forced to comply with Platkin’s subpoena, ruling that no actual violation of the First Amendment had yet occurred. 

However, the new SCOTUS ruling holds that the subpoena did harm First Choice by burdening the centers’ constitutional right of association. The ruling allows the centers to argue their case before federal courts instead of waiting for the subpoena to be enforced, the ERLC explained.

CatholicVote president Kelsey Reinhardt celebrated the decision on X, saying it sends “a clear message” to New Jersey that “pro-life Americans cannot be deprived of First Amendment rights because they serve women and children.” 

“First Choice Women’s Resource Centers stood up to government intimidation — and won,” she wrote.

In a press release, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the national pro-life organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, called the decision a “huge win for all Americans” who love both mothers and their babies, and highlighted the fact that the court’s decision was unanimous.

“Even the Court’s left-leaning justices recognized the far-reaching chill AG Platkin’s weaponization of government would have on all Americans’ cherished freedoms,” Dannenfelser stated.

She added that similar targeting of pro-life pregnancy centers has occurred across the country, especially in Democrat-controlled states, and urged voters to “stay vigilant” and turn out in the midterm elections to place pro-life politicians in office.