Massachusetts officials want women to have choices — as long as those choices lead to abortion.
Governor Maura Healey launched a taxpayer-funded campaign in June 2024 to discourage women from turning to pro-life pregnancy centers. State officials called the work of these centers dangerous and deceptive.
These centers said the campaign is a violation of their free speech and equal protection rights. Your Options Medical Centers (YOM) filed a lawsuit.
We previously blogged about this case. YOM is a Christian organization that provides free ultrasounds, pregnancy counseling, and practical support.
State officials worked with a group called Reproductive Equity Now to discredit pregnancy centers, solicit complaints, and threaten medical professionals through licensing guidance.
The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), working with Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center, filed a reply brief on YOM’s behalf in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
A lower court that ruled against YOM considered aspects of the campaign separately. ACLJ argued that courts must examine the campaign as a whole.
“Context matters,” wrote ACLJ’s Olivia Summers. “And the context here is unmistakable: The Commonwealth branded pro-life centers a public-health threat, issued contemporaneous licensing guidance threatening discipline for the very viewpoint it had just condemned, and then pointed to complaints from its own ‘trusted partner’ – Reproductive Equity Now – as the reason to accelerate the threats.”
Neither the state nor the pro-abortion group should get away with defaming others who disagree with them. Pro-life pregnancy centers are here to stay. Women need support and an alternative to killing their unborn babies.
Photo credit: ACLJ
