CV NEWS FEED // Amid a challenge to a law that would require pro-life pregnancy centers to post specific disclaimers in their buildings and promotional materials, Delaware state officials have agreed not to enforce the law until further notice.
CatholicVote previously reported that Delaware is facing a lawsuit filed last month by pregnancy center A Door of Hope and the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, challenging the anti-pregnancy resource center law.
Passed last year and set to go into effect this month, the law would force pregnancy resource centers “to post disclaimers in their facilities and advertising materials that state they do not have a licensed medical provider on staff directly supervising their work,” CatholicVote reported.
According to a March 18 news release from Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the plaintiffs along with legal organization Simms Showers, state officials have agreed to a March 17 court order that bans them from enforcing the state law while the lawsuit plays out.
In the release, Simms Showers senior associate William Thetford celebrated the agreement.
“We’re pleased Delaware officials won’t enforce their unconstitutional law against the pregnancy centers we represent as this case continues,” he stated. “Pregnancy centers are a force for good in Wilmington and the surrounding community, offering families true, life-affirming care and resources during unplanned or unsupported pregnancies.”
In the lawsuit, attorneys argue that the law unconstitutionally targets pro-life centers and violates their free speech rights. In a news release at the time of the lawsuit’s filing, Simms Showers senior associate William Thetford called the law “a classic example of the government compelling speech to punish those who hold differing viewpoints.”
“State officials are requiring the disclaimers to be posted solely because A Door of Hope serves pregnant women from a pro-life perspective, and not with any prerequisite that the center has engaged in any improper behavior,” according to ADF. “The law compels speech and, in practice, regulates only speakers who wish to discuss the subject of pregnancy from a pro-life viewpoint rather than any other health topic.”
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