An important abortion case

KENT COVINGTON, HOST: Today is Wednesday, March 21st. You’re listening to member-supported WORLD Radio. Good morning, I’m Kent Covington.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. The justices of the Supreme Court yesterday heard argument about abortion rights and procedures—and who must advertise them. California requires pro-life pregnancy care centers to post information about abortion services offered by the state. But care centers exist to help mothers continue their pregnancies and protect unborn life. So they argue California violates their free speech and conscience rights with that law.

COVINGTON: So the question is whether California can force pro-life pregnancy care centers to advertise for state-sponsored abortions. How did the arguments go?

REICHARD: Very well, it seems. I read the transcript of the argument, and it revealed even some liberal-leaning justices see a problem with what California is doing. For example, Justice Elena Kagan. I’ll read what she said to Joshua Klein, who argued to uphold the law.

She said: “There is a sense when you read this statute there’s at least a question that arises as to whether this statute has been gerrymandered. Because if it has been gerrymandered, that’s a serious issue. In other words, it’s like, look, we have these requirements but we don’t really want to apply them generally.  We just want to apply them to some speakers whose speech we don’t much like.”

..So, from the pro-life perspective, very encouraging.

COVINGTON: And just as a reminder, the court doesn’t release the audio of arguments until Friday. So you’ll bring us the full details on Monday’s Legal Docket.

REICHARD: Yes, indeed.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Anti-abortion supporters attend a rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 20, 2018.

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