(LifeSiteNews) — A pro-life pregnancy center has filed a lawsuit against the attorney general of New Jersey after he issued a subpoena that allegedly targets the faith-based nonprofit.
On December 13, First Choice Women’s Resource Centers sued Democrat Attorney General Matthew Platkin with the help of attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). The lawsuit alleges that a recent subpoena issued by Platkin targets the pro-life organization by demanding it “produce extensive documentation” without reasonable cause and under threat of punishment.
A December 18 press release from ADF describes the subpoena as “wide-ranging, unfounded and burdensome” and a demand which “requires the organization to expend its limited resources” to meet.
“New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin selectively targeted First Choice Women’s Resource Centers based on its religious speech and pro-life views,” the release states, adding that he “does not refer to any substantive evidence of wrongdoing to justify his onerous demands.”
The complaint further specifies that Platkin’s subpoena is “demanding production of a broad range of documents under the pretense of conducting a civil investigation into possible violations of ‘the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A…’ relating to the Ministry’s [First Choice] handling of patient data and statements about the lawful practice of Abortion Pill Reversal.”
First Choice centers are medical centers that offer life-affirming medical care including pregnancy and STD testing, ultrasounds, post-abortion support, and counseling for both men and women facing unplanned pregnancies. Their website directs women who regret taking mifepristone – the first step of a chemical abortion – to the 24-hour hotline for Heartbeat International’s Abortion Pill Rescue Network.
Additionally, the complaint details that Platkin “has never cited any complaint or other substantive evidence of wrongdoing to justify his demands.” Instead, he “launched an exploratory probe into the lawful activities, constitutionally protected speech, religious observance, constitutionally protected associations, and nonpublic internal communications and records of a non-profit organization that holds a view with which he disagrees as a matter of public policy.”
ADF attorneys argue that the subpoena violates the organization’s constitutional rights under the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments and that complying with the request would “thwart” the pro-life group’s “efforts to achieve its mission to serve women experiencing both planned and unplanned pregnancies in New Jersey.”
Lincoln Wilson, Senior Counsel for ADF, criticized Platkin via Monday’s release for “us[ing] the authority of his office to harm those with whom he disagrees.” He also noted that the attorney general “has aligned himself with Planned Parenthood’s pro-abortion mission and even enlisted its help to target pro-life pregnancy centers like our client First Choice.”
The state of New Jersey, which has some of the most pro-abortion laws in the country with elective abortion legal at all stages of pregnancy, is notorious for promoting the murder of the unborn. In January 2022, the state legislature passed a bill to enshrine a “right” to abortion in the New Jersey constitution, anticipating the potential for Roe v. Wade to be overturned, which historically occurred the following June with the Dobbs decision.
Taxpayers were forced to pay $15 million for a state-led project to update Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities earlier this year. In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, Platkin’s office issued a guideline explaining how citizens could obtain surgical and chemical abortions and an assurance that New Jersey welcomes out-of-state visitors seeking to kill their children as well as minors who are doing so without parental consent.
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