Pregnancy Resource Centers Sue Vermont Over Law That ‘Censors’ Pro-life Services
Jack Applewhite on July 26, 2023
Two pro-life pregnancy centers filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the state of Vermont over a bill passed by the state Legislature that “censors” their ability to provide resources to pregnant women.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a freedom of religion and free speech advocacy group that provides legal counsel, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, which operates two pregnancy care facilities in Vermont, alleging that state Senate Bill 37 restricts these centers ability to advertise pro-life services, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that the bill violates the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by prohibiting these centers from offering services like counseling without medical licenses.
“That law impedes the ability of pro-life pregnancy centers to continue providing help and support to Vermont women and families in two ways: First, it censors the centers’ ability to advertise their free services (Advertising Prohibition),” the lawsuit states. “Second, it precludes centers from offering non-medical services, information, and counseling unless provided by a licensed health care provider (Provider Restriction).”
“False and misleading advertising by centers that do not offer or refer clients for abortion is of special concern to the State because of the time-sensitive and constitutionally protected nature of the decision to continue or terminate a pregnancy,” the bill states.
“So the law is specifically designed to target pro-life pregnancy centers and it does that by limiting its application to centers that do not provide or refer for abortions,” Payne told the DCNF. “So, for example, Planned Parenthood could have a non-licensed counselor discuss a woman’s pregnancy options with her but a pro-life pregnancy center could not have the same counselor do the same thing.”
The DCNF also interviewed Jean Marie, the executive director of Branches Pregnancy Resource Center, one of the facilities suing Vermont. Marie, a human trafficking survivor who found help at a pregnancy care center, told the DCNF that she “would be a dead woman” if centers were not available to offer her free pregnancy resources.
“And so with these restrictions that this law has put on my center, to know that if the restrictions had passed nine years ago, I would be a dead woman because of the fact that the ability for pregnancy service not to be free to service women and offer the support that they need without the fear of the unjust government punishment,” Marie told the DCNF.
The office of Vermont’s attorney general did not immediately respond to a DCNF request for comment.
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