OPINION:
Democratic scheming against the pro-life movement has gone too far. An animated discussion before the Supreme Court on Tuesday suggests justices are ready to terminate New Jersey’s effort to bully faith-based pregnancy centers out of business.
These clinics offer whatever support pregnant women might need as an alternative to abortion. It could be diapers, food, counseling or other essentials provided free of charge. Such options undermine the multibillion-dollar industry that has formed around the killing of children in the womb.
Planned Parenthood, NARAL and others invest this windfall in Democrats who are willing to assist in eliminating the competition. The industry has showered federal candidates with $50 million in political donations over the last 10 years, and recipients of the largesse are grateful for the boost.
Matthew Platkin, the Garden State’s attorney general, helped his allies by attacking First Choice Women’s Resource Centers for “potential misrepresentations they have been making, including about reproductive health care.”
He is appalled that pro-life groups tell pregnant women about Planned Parenthood customers who faced depression and anxiety after making a hasty decision.
Somehow, Mr. Platkin considered his differing opinion a valid pretext to order a Christian organization to hand over the names and addresses of all its supporters, plus documents covering a decade of operations.
Nonprofits are reluctant to surrender contributor information out of a fear that partisan state operatives would scare away future donors. Mr. Platkin’s subpoena threatened “contempt of court” proceedings if First Choice didn’t comply.
Even Justice Elena Kagan expressed skepticism at the state’s position that merely receiving a subpoena doesn’t implicate a fundamental constitutional right.
“An ordinary person, one of the funders for this organization or for any similar organization presented with this subpoena and then told, ‘But don’t worry, it has to be stamped by a court,’ is not going to take that as very reassuring, suggesting the chilling effect was real,” she said.
The prospect of losing a left-leaning justice on a key case wasn’t the only bad news for abortionists this week. On Monday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said New York Attorney General Letitia James likely violated the free speech rights of pro-life pregnancy centers.
Like her New Jersey counterpart, she used her civil enforcement powers to intimidate the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates and other nondenominational ministries. Their offense was informing pregnant women about a brief window where the deadly consequences of taking abortion pills can sometimes be reversed.
Ms. James argued that she had the right to penalize anyone making such assertions. “We are unpersuaded,” the appellate panel found. “Based on the current record, the NIFLA plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their First Amendment claim.”
Two of the three judges who arrived at that conclusion were put on the bench by President Biden. They pointed out that the same pressure tactics could just as easily be employed against “a sweeping range of nonprofits,” including abortion mills and assorted organizations favored by liberals.
Blue-state prosecutors assumed the courts would rubber-stamp their plot to criminalize wrongthink. It’s comforting that the system is inclined to reject this obvious assault on freedom of speech and religious liberty.
Pro-abortion politicians care only about funneling as much public money as possible to the outfits that return 30 pieces of silver into Democratic campaign coffers for each life that’s snuffed out.
This is too brazen, even for otherwise reliable liberals.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.