LISTEN LIVE: Supreme Court hears First Amendment case over subpoena sent to crisis pregnancy center

WASHINGTON (AP) — A religious pregnancy center will appear before the Supreme Court on Tuesday to challenge an investigation into whether it misled people into discouraging abortions.

Listen to Tuesday’s arguments live starting at 10 a.m. EST in the video player above.

Facilities often known as “crisis pregnancy centers” have been on the rise in the United States, especially since the Supreme Court’s conservative majority struck down abortion as a right nationwide in 2022. Most Republican-controlled states have since begun imposing bans or restrictions on abortion, and some have directed tax dollars to the centers. They generally provide prenatal care and encourage women to carry the pregnancy to term.

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Several Democratic-aligned states have sought to protect abortion access, and some have investigated whether pregnancy centers mislead women into believing they offer abortions. In New Jersey, Democratic Attorney General Matthew Platkin sent a subpoena to First Women’s Resource Centers seeking donor information.

First Choice responded, arguing that the investigation was baseless and that the demand for donor lists threatened their First Amendment rights. They tried to challenge the subpoena in federal court, but the judge found the case was not yet sufficient. The Court of Appeal agreed.

The first choice then turned to the Supreme Court. Executive Director Amy Hooper said she hopes the Supreme Court will rule in their favor and send a message that protects facilities like hers. “I hope that other prosecutors who have prosecuted, harmed, or harassed other pregnancy centers will recant, or consider doing so, as a result of our legal battle,” she said.

New Jersey counters that First Choice is seeking special treatment. The group did not even have to hand over any records because the judge overseeing the case did not order it. “The subpoena itself does not require the petitioner to do anything, and compliance with it is completely voluntary,” the state’s attorneys wrote in court documents.

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If the Supreme Court sided with the first option, they said, it would “open the federal courts to an avalanche of lawsuits challenging countless state and local subpoenas.”

First Choice said access to federal court is important in cases where government investigators are accused of abusing investigative authority. The American Civil Liberties Union joined the case to support the free speech argument made by the first option.

Erin Hawley, an attorney for the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, said subpoenas could hurt advocacy groups with unpopular views. “It’s a broad, non-ideological issue that really crosses ideological boundaries,” she said.