“Pro-Choice” Democrats Want to Shut Down Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s probably isn’t a household name, but Aimee Huber, executive director of First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, knows it all too well.

Huber’s faith-based nonprofit has served pregnant and parenting New Jerseyans free of charge since 1985. But now, she writes, “For more than two years, Platkin has been pursuing a personal and political vendetta against pregnancy centers like First Choice” – including a subpoena demanding names, addresses, phone numbers and other highly confidential information about their donors.

First Choice took its case to the Supreme Court, asserting its constitutional rights.

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Two leading pro-life scholars note the case’s huge First Amendment ramifications:

The outcome could define the boundaries of ideologically motivated regulations—not just for pregnancy centers, but for faith-based charities nationwide…Ultimately, a ruling against First Choice would harm Americans, especially the most vulnerable among us.

Meanwhile, on the eve of Tuesday’s oral arguments, a federal appeals court delivered some good news (unless you’re New York’s “Abortion Barbie” Tish James):

It’s all happening almost 9 years after the Supreme Court took up NIFLA v. Becerra, which struck down a California law forcing pregnancy centers to advertise taxpayer-funded abortions on the state’s behalf.

Will Democrats ever learn to leave pregnancy centers alone?

Today we break all this history down.

A pattern of hostility

Shortly after Dobbs, Platkin launched a so-called abortion “Strike Force” with civil and criminal enforcement powers. In a now-infamous “consumer alert,” Platkin’s office described pregnancy centers as “organizations that seek to prevent people from accessing comprehensive reproductive health care.” They “are not licensed medical facilities and do not employ licensed medical professionals,” it alleged, further suggesting that pregnancy centers’ ultrasound technicians may be unqualified, and said they “pressure individuals to delay an abortion or continue a pregnancy, including by providing false or misleading information about the safety and legality” of abortion. The “alert” provided referral links to groups like Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation. Indeed, public records show Planned Parenthood was deeply involved in crafting this alert at every step, from drafting to editing and review.

On social media, Platkin himself calls abortion “reproductive freedom” and pro-life advocates “extremists.”

At the Supreme Court yesterday, New Jersey’s attorney waved off these smears and harassment as “policy disagreements.”

Seriously?

Pro-life advocates know there’s a nationwide context of Democrats targeting pregnancy centers. As usual, we bring the receipts.

Read More: 16 Insane Things Democrats Have Said About Pregnancy Centers

Pregnancy centers save lives. When powerful politicians openly plot to shut them down, that’s not something we can simply agree to disagree on.

A skeptical Court

How would any ordinary person react to receiving a subpoena?

Qualms about handing over sensitive details notwithstanding, you’d probably think, at the least, you could face legal consequences – such as being held in contempt or losing your business license – if you didn’t comply.

That’s exactly First Choice’s position. They took Platkin’s subpoena seriously and argue it has a chilling effect on free speech and association. In a climate where violent threats over abortion since Dobbs are overwhelmingly directed at pro-life advocates, there are real safety concerns.

Alliance Defending Freedom’s Erin Hawley, who represented First Choice, observes, “Because revealing one’s membership or support for an advocacy group tells the world about a person’s most deeply held beliefs, the Supreme Court has held that donors have a constitutional right to anonymously support causes.”

In response, Platkin’s office claims its subpoena was not “self-executing” – that is, a precursor to a court order and not that big a deal, more like a polite request they didn’t really intend to enforce. And at the end of all that litigation, they argue, actual harm to First Choice or its supporters might not pan out.

The justices – conservative and liberal – didn’t appear to buy it.

Ordinary people likely wouldn’t find the NJ AG’s words very reassuring, said Justice Kagan.

Justices Barrett, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Alito, and Kagan all questioned the opposite position Platkin’s office took in a similar case just a few years ago against gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson: that subpoenas have the force of law. Justice Jackson seemed disturbed Platkin’s office would force First Choice to go fully through state court first, even if it would bar them from going back to federal court later. Justice Sotomayor seemed unusually quiet.

The NJ AG admitted they planned to contact and question donors whose information they sought – some of whom had given as modest a sum as $10. The pretense? Some might have been confused, thinking First Choice was a pro-abortion organization!

Questioned by Justice Thomas, they also admitted receiving no complaints against First Choice pregnancy centers to justify their sweeping investigation:

Before Kavanaugh and Barrett joined the Court, a case like NIFLA v. Becerra resulted in a 5-4 split.

Dare we hope the outcome of Platkin could be unanimous? It certainly deserves to be.

A proven record of service

A new report from Charlotte Lozier Institute, its latest big survey conducted with national pregnancy center networks, dismantles the Democrats’ anti-pregnancy center narrative. Here’s a small snapshot of the $452 million in value provided by nearly 2,800 centers across America in 2024, not including intangible emotional support and friendship:

• 700,268 pregnancy tests
• 636,514 ultrasounds
• 239,948 STD/STI tests
• 397,616 clients empowered by prenatal and parenting education
• 6,353,386 packs of diapers
• 1,604,996 packs of wipes
• 39,628 new car seats
• 36,143 strollers
• 23,889 new cribs
• 373,531 cans/bottles of formula
• 4,980,839 baby clothing outfits
• 1,012,976 new clients seen – women and men

These are virtually all resources the abortion industry doesn’t offer, even though more women prefer support to give birth to their children. First Choice’s Huber writes, “We haven’t forced those services on anyone. We haven’t charged any women for the services we provide.” And America’s pregnancy centers have done it while achieving the goodwill of 83% of the public and an extraordinary 98% rate of happy clients.

As always, those happy, grateful moms and thriving children are the best advertisement anyone could ask for – like Aisha, who writes, “My twins and I are living, breathing testaments to the life-affirming help pregnancy centers provide.”

The proof is in: A Democratic Party that treats pregnancy centers as villains instead of heroes isn’t “pro-choice” – it’s just pro-abortion.

LifeNews Note: Courtesy of SBA ProLife. This column originally appeared at the SBA ProLife Substack.