WASHINGTON (AP) â The Supreme Court on Wednesday sided with a faith-based pregnancy center that raised First Amendment concerns about a California state investigation into whether it misled people to discourage abortions.
The court ruled 9-0 in favor of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), which operates a network of crisis pregnancy centers. The case stemmed from a 2019 investigation by California Attorney General Rob Bonta into whether NIFLA's centers made false or misleading statements about their services to deter women from seeking abortions.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion for the unanimous court, stating that the investigation likely violated the First Amendment because it targeted the centers' speech based on its viewpoint. The court sent the case back to lower courts for further proceedings.
The decision is a significant victory for anti-abortion advocates, who argued that the state's investigation was an unconstitutional attempt to suppress their message. California officials had argued that the investigation was a legitimate consumer protection effort to prevent fraud.
