The Supreme Court unanimously sided with a group of faith-based pregnancy centers on Wednesday that challenged the New Jersey attorney general’s investigation into whether the centers misled donors and the public about steering women away from having abortions.
The case was brought by First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, a group of five Christian-based facilities in New Jersey that provide various pre-natal services to women facing unplanned pregnancies. The Supreme Court found the centers’ First Amendment rights were violated, handing a victory to the pro-life movement, which had argued the state investigation rattled the centers’ donors.
The opinion was narrow, finding that First Choice is now able to fight the state investigation in federal court, rather than state court. First Choice argued that then-Attorney General Matt Platkin, an elected Democrat, had issued baseless subpoenas to the pregnancy centers for donor information and that the centers should be allowed to fight them in federal court.
Justice Neil Gorsuch, who authored the opinion, agreed with First Choice, saying the state-issued subpoenas breached the First Amendment.
PRO-LIFE CENTER FIGHTS NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ‘FISHING EXPEDITION’ IN SUPREME COURT BATTLE
“An official demand for private donor information is enough to discourage reasonable individuals from associating with a group. It is enough to discourage groups from expressing dissident views,” Gorsuch wrote.
The high court’s majority rebuked Platkin, saying his probe did not align with longstanding court precedent.
“Over and again, we have held those demands burden the exercise of First Amendment rights,” Gorsuch wrote. “Disputing none of these precedents but seeking ways around them, the Attorney General has offered a variety of arguments. Some are old, some are new, but none succeeds.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the New Jersey attorney general’s office for comment.
This is a developing news story; check back for updates.
Fox News’ Bill Mears and Shannon Bream contributed to this report.