Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Ask Supreme Court to Stop Democrat Harassment

The Supreme Court heard a case today involving First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, a pro-life Christian ministry in New Jersey that has spent four decades serving women facing unplanned pregnancies.

In First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin, the state’s attorney general tried to force First Choice to disclose how it applies its statement of faith to employees and volunteers, trains its staff to interact with expectant mothers consistent with its religious mission, collaborates with churches to support its ministry, relates to other pro-life organizations, and how it explains what God is doing in its ministry—without a single complaint or any evidence of wrongdoing.

What’s more, New Jersey insists that First Choice has no right to federal court review before being forced to expose its mission to state scrutiny. Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking the Justices to protect religious ministries like First Choice from invasive government efforts to interrogate them because of their religiously inspired ministries. Read more about the cases Becket is watching at the Court this term here.

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Since 1985, First Choice Women’s Resource Centers has accompanied thousands of new and expecting mothers in their time of need, providing counseling, medical services, and tangible support like baby clothes, diapers, maternity clothes, and food. Through its ministries, First Choice has assisted over 36,000 women across New Jersey and has also provided educational programs to thousands of high school students. At its heart, First Choice is a pro-life, faith-based organization. All employees, board members, and volunteers adhere to a statement of faith, vowing to uphold the dignity of every person from conception to natural death.

“New Jersey’s invasive inquiry into First Choice is a particularly brazen example of how state bureaucrats can abuse their power to target people of faith,” said William Haun, senior counsel at Becket. “The Justices should ensure that the federal courts are open to protect religious self-governance from state hostility toward religious groups.”

In 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin tried to drag First Choice into court with an aggressive, wide-ranging investigation. The move was part of a broader campaign Platkin launched in the aftermath of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization to target pro-life pregnancy centers. His demands included the names tied to roughly 5,000 contributions along with over a decade of internal records, private communications with churches and supporters, faith-based policies for staff and volunteers, and the materials the ministry uses to counsel women. Platkin made these sweeping demands without identifying a single complaint or pointing to any evidence that First Choice was violating the law.

Further still, the Attorney General claims that First Choice has no right to seek protection in federal court before it is forced to subject its internal religious decisions to government scrutiny. Becket is asking the Court to protect the rights of faith-based ministries to make internal religious decisions without state interference. This is a principle a vast majority of Americans agree on—recent polling shows that 80% believe people should be able to run their private organizations consistent with their religious beliefs, free from government interference.

“Keeping the federal courthouse doors closed to New Jersey’s fishing expedition would give state officials nationwide a blank check to cudgel religious ministries into silence,” said Haun. “The Court should make clear that state bureaucrats cannot exploit their power to intimidate ministries or chill the faith commitments that guide their work.”

A ruling is expected by the end of the Court’s term in June 2026.