The Supreme Court will hear a case on Tuesday surrounding New Jersey’s Democrat attorney general trying to expose thousands of donors and collect ten years of internal documents from a group of pro-life pregnancy centers.
The question before the high court is largely procedural, although the case has broad-sweeping consequences for pregnancy centers in a post-Roe v. Wade landscape where pro-life organizations face more attacks, both violent and political. Justices will specifically weigh in on whether or not First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, a group of faith-based pregnancy centers, is allowed to challenge New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s investigation in federal court — an investigation the organization argues is unconstitutional.
Platkin served a subpoena demanding First Choice identify donors behind nearly 5,000 donations by name and produce ten years of related internal documents. First Choice tried to challenge the subpoena in federal court, arguing that the state had violated the First Amendment, Breitbart News detailed in June. Platkin responded by filing his own lawsuit in state court, an action which led lower federal courts to rule that First Choice must pursue federal claims in state court first.
In response, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to hold that civil rights plaintiffs do not need to litigate challenges to state investigations in state court before they can bring federal claims. The Supreme Court ADF wrote on behalf of First Choice. agreed to take up the case in June.
ADF wrote on behalf of First Choice:
The question presented is: Where the subject of a state investigatory demand has established a reasonably objective chill of its First Amendment rights, is a federal court in a first-filed action deprived of jurisdiction because those rights must be adjudicated in state court?
The petition further argues that Platkin “has made no secret of his hostility towards pregnancy centers.”
“He issued a consumer alert—drafted with the help of Planned Parenthood—complaining that such centers do not provide or refer for abortion. He also signed an open letter pledging to take legal action against pregnancy centers,” the petition details.
“The Attorney General made good on that pledge by issuing an invasive Subpoena to First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc., a collection of five medically-licensed centers that offer free medical services and material support to women facing unplanned pregnancies,” it continues. “Though the Attorney General could not identify a single complaint, he demanded that First Choice turn over years of sensitive internal information—including donor information about nearly 5,000 contributions.”
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ADF Senior Counsel Erin Hawley previously accused Platkin of “targeting” pro-life pregnancy centers.
“New Jersey’s attorney general is targeting First Choice—a ministry that provides parenting classes, free ultrasounds, baby clothes, and more to its community—simply because of its pro-life views,” Hawley said. “The Constitution protects First Choice and its donors from unjustified demands to disclose their identities, and First Choice is entitled to vindicate those rights in federal court.
“The First Amendment protects First Choice’s right to freely speak about its beliefs, exercise its faith, associate with like-minded individuals and organizations, and continue to provide its free services in a caring and compassionate environment to people facing unplanned pregnancies,” Hawley added. “The lower courts have wrongly held that First Choice is relegated to state court to present its constitutional claims. We are looking forward to presenting our case to the Supreme Court and urging it to hold that First Choice has the same right to federal court as any other civil rights plaintiff.”
Platkin’s office has asked the Supreme Court to let the lower ruling stand and argues that it issued a subpoena as part of an investigation into whether First Choice has violated New Jersey’s consumer fraud and other state laws by misleading donors and potential clients about its stance on abortion. First Choice notably states on its website that it “is an abortion clinic alternative that does not perform or refer for termination services.”
“The Third Circuit specifically considered Petitioner’s allegations and record evidence, along with the unique procedural posture, and held that Petitioner had not sufficiently presented any chill to its constitutional rights stemming from the subpoena,” Platkin’s office wrote in court filings.
The Supreme Court will hear other landmark cases in December, including a case on Dec. 8 about President Donald Trump’s firing of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) commissioner Rebecca Slaughter (Trump v. Slaughter), and a case on Dec. 9 brought by Republicans challenging limits on the spending of political parties made in coordination with campaigns (NRSC v. FEC).
The case is First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin, No. 24-781 in the Supreme Court of the United States.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.