Federal Appeals Court Delivers Major Free Speech Victory for Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Against NY AG Letitia James’ Attacks

Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a significant decision protecting the right of Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) to speak freely about abortion-pill reversal – a potential lifesaving option for women who regret beginning a chemical abortion. In National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. James, a case in which the ACLJ filed an amicus brief defending these centers, the court upheld a preliminary injunction preventing New York Attorney General Letitia James from censoring or punishing pregnancy centers for sharing truthful, life-affirming information with the women they serve.

This is a major victory not only for the pregnancy centers involved, but for pro-life and religious speech nationwide – including the pregnancy center we represent in our ongoing federal lawsuit in Massachusetts.

The New York case began when Attorney General James launched an aggressive campaign accusing pregnancy centers of making “false and misleading” statements simply for telling women that the first abortion pill can sometimes be counteracted by a progesterone-based protocol. The centers do not prescribe the protocol, receive no payment, and simply offer information to women seeking alternatives to abortion. Yet the state attempted to argue that it can regulate their speech as “commercial advertising.”

The Second Circuit rejected that attempt. Because the centers are motivated not by profit but by their deeply held religious belief that every human life is created by God and worthy of protection, their speech is noncommercial – and therefore entitled to the highest First Amendment protection. Their counseling is a religious and moral expression. It is a ministry. It is the very type of speech the First Amendment exists to safeguard, especially against government actors who dislike or oppose the message.

And the significance of this decision reaches far beyond New York. It speaks directly to a disturbing trend we are fighting in Massachusetts, where pregnancy centers are being targeted not because of misconduct, but because of their religious viewpoint.

What New York attempted through litigation – suing eleven pregnancy centers to silence their religious, pro-life message – Massachusetts is attempting through a coordinated campaign of misinformation and coercion. Officials there are not only spreading fear about PRCs but also threatening the professional licenses of pro-life doctors who share information about abortion-pill reversal or partner with these centers. The tactic is different, but the goal is the same: suppress the faith-driven conviction that unborn children deserve protection and that women deserve real choices rooted in truth, not politics.

The Second Circuit’s decision disrupts that effort. It sends a clear warning that states cannot transform consumer-protection laws into ideological weapons. It reinforces that pregnancy centers do not lose their constitutional rights because their message is religious. And it strengthens the legal footing of our Massachusetts case, which now proceeds with fresh confirmation that the First Amendment protects faith-based pro-life speech from government hostility. In fact, we are preparing to argue exactly those points on January 29, when the federal court in Massachusetts will hear oral argument on the defendants’ motions to dismiss.

The stakes in that courtroom could not be higher – and this ruling arrives at precisely the right time and in a critical moment. As hostility toward pro-life ministries intensifies, courts are being asked to choose between government censorship and religious freedom. This week, at least, the Constitution prevailed.

The ACLJ is defending PRCs whose religious speech is under attack – speech that proclaims the sanctity of life, the dignity of motherhood, and the hope God offers in moments of crisis. These ministries cannot be silenced without silencing the faith that animates them.

And you can defend those PRCs with us. Your support empowers the ACLJ to challenge unconstitutional laws, defend religious ministries in court, and ensure that PRCs remain free to fulfill their God-given mission.

Join us. Help us defend life, protect free and religious speech; stand with the pro-life centers that stand for women, children, and the truth every single day.