Judge blocks California law requiring pregnancy centers to provide information on abortion programs

A superior court judge in California has blocked a law that requires pregnancy centers in the state to provide information about taxpayer-funded abortion programs.

On Monday, Judge Gloria Trask issued a permanent injunction against the Reproductive FACT Act, which requires pregnancy centers to post signage and inform clients about the state's taxpayer-funded abortions and birth control through its Medi-Cal program.

Trask ruled that the law violates Article 1, Section 2 of the California Constitution, which reads, "Every person may freely speak, write and publish his or her sentiments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of this right. A law may not restrain or abridge liberty of speech or press."

She then argued that there are other ways for the government to spread its message besides compelling those who are opposed to abortion to provide the information.

"Compelled speech must be subject to reasonable limitation. The statute compels the clinic to speak words with which it profoundly disagrees when the state has numerous alternative methods of publishing its message. ... In this case, however virtuous the state's ends, they do not justify its means," the judge said, according to World Net Daily.

The lawsuit challenging the Reproductive FACT Act in court was filed by Advocates for Faith & Freedom and the American Center for Law and Justice on behalf of California's Scharpen Foundation, which runs the Go Mobile for Life center.

Scott Scharpen, the founder of the foundation and a pastor at Rock Valley Christian Church in Murietta, said he could not comply with the requirement and would rather close the clinic than post a notice about the state's abortion programs.

The pastor applauded Monday's ruling, and described it as a "huge victory for free speech."

"The whole notion of being compelled to share information with our patients about abortion availability, which is contrary to our mission and purpose, is fundamentally wrong. Lives will be saved because of this ruling," he added.

Life Site News noted that the law has only been enforced in the city of Los Angeles, but it has served as a model for similar measures in other Democrat-controlled states such as Hawaii and Connecticut.

Courts have struck down similar laws requiring pregnancy centers to post signage denigrating their own services in several cities, including in New York City; Baltimore; Austin, Texas; and Montgomery County, Maryland.

In July, a judge placed a preliminary injunction on an Illinois law that would have forced physicians and pregnancy center staff to refer patients to abortion businesses.