Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

US Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case Over California Law Requiring Pregnancy Clinics to Inform Patients About State-Subsidized Services

US Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case Over California Law Requiring Pregnancy Clinics to Inform Patients About State-Subsidized Services
ICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

Here we go again.

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that will determine whether health clinics that claim religious affiliation have the legal right to mislead women in order to prevent an abortion.


The case is based on a California law that requires licensed pregnancy clinics inform patients about family planning services, including abortion, that are subsidized by the state. The plaintiffs are a group of California-based clinics who are claiming that the California law violates their First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of religion.

"The California Reproductive Freedom, Accountability, Comprehensive Care, and Transparency Act requires licensed clinics, which provide services like ultrasounds, to disseminate a notice stating that California has programs providing "immediate, free or low-cost access" to comprehensive family planning services," wrote CNN.

Alliance Defending Freedom, a group who represents the clinics, is challenging an denial by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who ruled that the state of California used "reasonable licensing" in enforcing the legislation, thus "ensuring that its citizens have access to and adequate information about constitutionally protected medical services like abortion."

"Information is power," California Xavier Becerra said in a statement, "and all women should have access to the information they need when making personal health care decisions."

Attorneys for the state of California argued that the FACT law doesn't infringe upon religious expression because it doesn't require clinics to recommend or refer patients to clinics that provide abortions, but merely to present them as an additional option. Pregnancy centers are never required to offer abortion services under California law.

"The clinics were masquerading as full service reproductive health clinics and deceiving women into thinking they could get bona fide reproductive health care," said Amy Myrick, a staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which advocates for women's reproductive rights. "In fact, the clinics don't make abortions and contraceptive coverage available."

Several justices on the conservative-leaning Supreme Court expressed their skepticism about the constitutionality of the FACT law, including liberal Justice Sonya Sotomayor, an Obama-appointee. She said the law as "more burdensome and wrong," echoing the sentiments of Justice Anthony Kennedy. "It seems to me that is an undue burden…and that should be enough to invalidate the statute," Kennedy said. But these opinions applied only to the advertising aspect of the law.

Since many clinics provide services like pregnancy screenings and ultrasounds, Sotomayor opined that these count as medical procedures and informed consent laws therefore apply. "I don't know what an ultrasound is, if not a procedure. I don't know what a pregnancy test is if not a procedure," she said. Justice Steven Breyer agreed. He pointed out that previous a Supreme Court ruling involving informed consent between doctors and their patients set a precedent for upholding the law.

"In law, what's sauce for the goose, is sauce for the gander," said Breyer. "There are millions of people in the country who have views that are completely opposed. That's why the law should keep it as simple as possible."

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on this case before June, and given the current make-up of the court, along with what they view as the nebulous nature of the law, it's likely changes will be made to the law under the slipper-slope guise of religious freedom. It's also possible the law could be tossed out entirely on constitutional grounds.

More from News

Martin Kove; Alicia Hannah-Kim
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Monica Schipper/Getty Images

'Cobra Kai' Star Kicked Out Of Fan Event After Allegedly Biting Costar 'So Hard He Nearly Drew Blood'

Actor Martin Kove is in hot water after allegedly biting his Cobra Kai costar Alicia Hannah-Kim on the arm.

Kove plays Sensei John Creese in the Netflix series and in the 1980s The Karate Kid on which it is based. He was kicked out of a recent fan meet-and-greet following an incident in which Hannah-Kim says Kove assaulted her.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kayleigh McEnany
Fox News

McEnany Mocked Over Bonkers Prediction About The Number Of 'Nobel Peace Prizes' Trump Will Win After Iran Strikes

Joining a chorus of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's MAGA minions, current Fox News employee and former Trump administration member Kayleigh McEnany proclaimed Monday that Trump might get 34 Nobel Peace Prizes to offset his 34 felony convictions.

The Nobel prizes were established by Swedish inventor, entrepreneur, and businessman Alfred Nobel upon his death in 1896, although the first prizes were not given until 1901.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie Taylor Greene; Donald Trump
Al Drago/Getty Images; Suzanne Plunkett/Pool/Getty Images

MTG Epically Melts Down Over 'Nasty' Journalists Who Claim She's Beefing With Trump

After media outlets reported on Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's criticism of President Donald Trump's attack on Iran, Greene lashed out at journalists she claims are promoting the "fake narrative" that she's splitting from him after being one of his biggest supporters in Congress.

Earlier this week, she said that "when I’m frustrated and upset over the direction of things, you better be clear, the base is not happy," stressing that she "campaigned for no more foreign wars" and yet had to respond because "now we are supposedly on the verge of going to war with Iran."

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

AOC Offers Fiery Response After Trump Lashes Out At Her For Threatening 'Impeachment' Over Iran Strikes

President Donald Trump attacked New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a post on Truth Social, saying "she should be forced to take the Cognitive Test" after she called for his impeachment following his attack on Iran without explicit approval from Congress.

Earlier, Ocasio-Cortez said Trump's "disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers," adding:

Keep ReadingShow less

People Divulge The Biggest Secrets They're Keeping From Their Spouse

We've all heard how important it is for long-term couples, especially married couples, to not keep secrets from one another.

Unfortunately, some dark secrets, like affairs, second families, and terrible choices, lurk in the closets of even the most loving-looking couples.

Keep ReadingShow less