SCOTUS Clears the Way for Anti-Abortion CPCs to Continue Dodging Accountability
In an expectedly disappointing ruling, the Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously sided with an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center in New Jersey, otherwise known as one of the fake clinics systemically taking advantage of pregnant people.
The case stems from an administrative subpoena filed by former Attorney General Matt Platkin (D-New Jersey) in 2023, over whether First Choice Women’s Resource Centers Inc.—a CPC that runs five locations in the state—was misleading their patients and donors about the services they provide. Which felt warranted enough, considering most of these “clinics” make a habit of preying on vulnerable individuals by offering free services ranging from counseling to pre-abortion screenings—only to share misinformation and, sometimes, life-threatening junk science. (For example, while there’s no actual science that backs the existence of an “abortion reversal” after taking abortion pills, many CPCs will offer it. On the First Choice website is a hotline that also promotes an ‘abortion reversal.’”)
After Platkin filed the subpoena, First Choice challenged it in federal court by claiming its First Amendment free speech rights were under threat. The court found the case didn’t have enough standing, and an appellate court agreed. But the SCOTUS ruling reverses that decision—and hands the case back to the federal court.
“CPCs are trying to avoid any state oversight or regulation, and that’s a huge problem, especially because we know that some of them provide substandard care and mislead patients,” Amy Myrick, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, explains to Jezebel. Still, she says that the SCOTUS decision is “limited.” “It didn’t say that states can’t investigate CPCs. It didn’t sign off on any of their shady practices. It just says that a government order to disclose private donor information imposes enough of an injury to go to court and sue.”
The crisis pregnancy center chain First Choice, repped by Alliance Defending Freedom, ran to federal court to challenge an administrative subpoena.
My guess is the Dem justices think they’re playing 4D chess to protect progressive nonprofits, but at what cost?
www.autonomynews.co/abortion-pil…— Susan Rinkunas (@susanrinkunas.com) April 29, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Arguing on behalf of First Choice was none other than Alliance Defending Freedom’s Erin Hawley, aka wife of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), aka Mrs. Anti-Abortion Slenderman herself. She hailed Wednesday’s decision as a “resounding victory,” and lambasted Platkin’s tactics as “blatantly unconstitutional.” ADF is the same group that argued in October that bans on conversion therapy should be “struck down,” BTW.
Somewhat surprisingly, First Choice was also backed by more progressive groups like the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of Press and the ACLU, who suggested subpoenaing the CPC could also pave the way to doing the same for aid organizations, journalists, and protesters.
The decision, however, fails to hold CPCs accountable for misleading patients and donors. “CPCs are at the forefront of asking for special exemptions based on everything from speech to religion, because they really don’t want the rules that apply to everyone else to apply to them,” says Myrick.
“An official demand for private donor information is enough to discourage reasonable individuals from associating with a group,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the 25-page ruling. “It is enough to discourage groups from expressing dissident views. A government that chooses to make private donor information public may make the damage worse.” Because the damage surely can’t get much worse than failing to hold accountable some junk science.