The Thomas More Society, a Catholic law firm, is representing the pregnancy centers in the lawsuit. The organization also represents the national pregnancy help center network National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) and the Pro-Life Action League in the lawsuit.
“Across the nation, pregnancy help ministries are being discriminated against by laws that target their life-affirming work,” Breen said. “The injunction granted today sends a strong, clear message to the country that the First Amendment protects pro-life speech.”
The lawsuit alleges that the law’s intention is to chill and restrict the centers’ constitutional right to free speech in violation of the First Amendment’s guarantees of the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion.
It further alleges that the vagueness of the statute violates the 14th Amendment’s due process clause and its targeting of the centers violates the equal protection clause.
The legislation added new restrictions to the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. The law, which only applies to pro-life pregnancy centers, states that it is intended to prevent “deceptive practices.”
Deceptive practices, according to the law, include fraud, misrepresentation, and false promises. They also include the “concealment, suppression, or omission” of a material fact with the intent that others rely on such concealment, suppression, or omission of that fact.