Supreme Court rules in favor of California pro-life centers

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday handed down a 5-4 ruling in favor of California pro-life pregnancy centers in a First Amendment case over advertising abortion. The pregnancy centers, under the umbrella of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, challenged a 2015 California law known as the Reproductive FACT Act. The law mandated that licensed pregnancy centers advertise information on the state’s free or low-cost abortion coverage while unlicensed centers had to provide disclaimers in 13 languages that their services did not include medical help. Justice Clarence Thomas in his majority opinion noted that the pregnancy centers “are likely to succeed” in their claim that the law violates the First Amendment because it narrowly targeted pregnancy centers. “California asserts a single interest to justify the licensed notice: providing low-income women with information about state-sponsored services,” he wrote. “Assuming that this is a substantial state interest, the licensed notice is not sufficiently drawn to achieve it.”