By Liberty Counsel ——Bio and Archives--March 19, 2018
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"California has public programs that provide immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services (including all FDA-approved methods of contraception), prenatal care and abortion for eligible women. To determine whether you qualify, contact the county social services office at [insert the telephone number]."His Nesting Place (Long Beach), Birth Choice of the Desert (La Quinta) and other centers not licensed by the State of California must post a notice that they are not a licensed medical facility in all print and online advertising and in their physical facilities or face the same fines. The notice for unlicensed clinics consists of an announcement that the clinic is a not a medical facility and has no doctor on staff. The notice must be written in 48-point type in up to 12 languages, depending on the county. His Nesting Place has to post notices in 12 languages and Birth Choice of the Desert has to post in two languages. Liberty Counsel challenged the law in federal court. A federal district court judge and a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Liberty Counsel's request for a preliminary injunction, and Liberty Counsel filed a petition to the Supreme Court. The case is being held and the decision in NIFLA will apply to all the pending cases. "We are hopeful this forced speech law will be overturned by the Supreme Court," said Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "The California law forces crisis pregnancy centers to speak a message that goes directly against their religious beliefs and mission to save lives. The First Amendment protects the right to speak and the right not to speak. To be forced to post state-prescribed notices in large font undermining the mission of the pregnancy centers is a shocking violation of the First Amendment," said Staver.
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Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family since 1989, by providing pro bono assistance and representation on these and related topics.