A reluctant step into politics

A D.C. moment: With the start of June comes the suspense of Supreme Court rulings; we never know when a ruling will come down, but June is the final month of the court’s term and as usual, the justices have procrastinated until the last minute on some of the term’s biggest cases. We’re awaiting rulings on the Christian cake baker (argued in December), the travel ban, redistricting, public sector unions, sales taxes on internet retailers, and California laws regulating the speech of pregnancy centers.

The California pregnancy centers seem likely to win in some form, but the narrowness or breadth of the decision will have implications for pregnancy centers nationally. I talked to one of the plaintiffs in the case, Josh McClure, who directs the Pregnancy Care Clinic in San Diego, Calif. McClure doesn’t have a career as a pro-life activist; a former executive with the Boy Scouts of America, 10 years ago he saw a Craigslist ad for an executive director of a pregnancy center. At that time he considered himself pro-life, but it wasn’t his passion. Administrative details were his passion, and the board hired him with the understanding that he would “lead well so others can do the advocacy work.”

But this administrator was drawn into advocacy over the years, especially as the state of California has targeted his center. The Reproductive FACT Act that passed in 2015 lays a host of regulations on licensed and unlicensed pregnancy centers, requiring disclaimers and large advertisements for state-sponsored abortions. McClure traveled to the state legislature to protest the law, but his assemblywoman wouldn’t meet with him.

“The law was being fast-tracked,” he said. “They did not care that we were there.”

Did he expect to find himself at the U.S. Supreme Court? “Not in a million years.”

After the law went into effect, the Alliance Defending Freedom approached McClure’s center about representing the group as a plaintiff, and the board decided it was ready to enter years of legal battles.

“We don’t like to think of ourselves as being political, but we have to be engaged,” said McClure. “We shouldn’t have to stand up and defend ourselves like this.”

Now he’s leading an effort to build a statewide coalition of almost 200 pregnancy centers (California Alliance of Pregnancy Care) to prevent any future versions of the FACT Act. Regional meetings have already begun.

Worth your time:

A beautiful interactive piece about the lives of the Chibok girls after their release from captivity—although it feels like this piece gives short shrift to the role of Christian faith in their healing process.

This week I learned:

That the United States is on pace to admit fewer refugees than Canada this year.

Culture I am consuming:

Solo, which I thoroughly enjoyed as a plain old summer blockbuster. It’s a Star Wars western, with no uses of the Force anywhere to be seen.

Postscript: Email me with tips, story ideas, and feedback. ebelz@wng.org