Lawyers in Baltimore are asking the Supreme Court to overturn a court ruling striking down a city ordinance that required pregnancy centers to inform women when they don’t offer abortions or provide birth control.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in January that the ordinance unconstitutionally compelled speech by the Center for Pregnancy Concerns, a Christian organization opposed to abortion. The ordinance was initially passed in 2010 and was blocked by a federal district court in 2016.
Such pregnancy facilities typically help connect women with an unplanned pregnancy to adoption services or maternity services, or provide furniture for nurseries as well as baby clothes and bottles, but do not offer abortions or birth control. The center’s website has a question and answer section in which it states, “We do not perform or refer for abortions because of the possible physical and emotional risks involved.”
The ordinance required that pregnancy centers providing limited services to also post a disclaimer in waiting rooms letting clients know that they do not “provide or make referral for abortion or birth-control services.”
The city argued that the ordinance served its interests because the center was engaging in deceptive advertising. They accused the organization of luring women into their centers by vaguely advertising their services, only to talk them out of having the procedure.
In their January ruling, judges said there was a lack of evidence that women had arrived there misunderstanding the purpose of the center and thinking they might be able to obtain an abortion.
Attorneys are now arguing that the ordinance doesn’t block free speech but provides people with more information.
The Supreme Court is reviewing a similar case in California called National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra. Supporters of the Baltimore ordinance hope that a ruling in favor of California’s law will also help support their case.
