The U.S. Supreme Court said a New Jersey faith-based pregnancy center can challenge a state subpoena seeking donor information.
A in court unanimous decision On April 29, it was decided that the case could proceed to federal court, overturning a lower court ruling that had deemed the trial premature.
The pregnancy center had raised First Amendment concerns over whether it could immediately assert its right to challenge a state subpoena demanding donor information – including names, addresses and places of employment – in federal court, or whether it must first proceed through the state court system.
The decision was a victory for First Choice Women’s Resource Centers. Various groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, members of Congress, the Trump administration, and the ACLU, had agreed that First Choice should be able to challenge the subpoena in federal court without first litigating the issue in a New Jersey state court.
CaseFirst Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Davenport, in New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Includes a 2023 subpoena issued by Platkin seeking donor information from First Choice. In 2022, Platkin began investigating crisis pregnancy centers such as First Choice, saying they were organizations that could provide “false or misleading information about the safety and legality of abortion.”
First Choice described itself in the Supreme Court brief as a faith-based nonprofit that serves New Jersey women by providing material assistance and medical services such as ultrasounds and pregnancy tests. The organization said it does not provide for or mention abortion.
The American Conference of Catholic Bishops gave this information to the court an amicus brief: “Mandatory disclosure of any religious organization’s financial support violates the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.”
It argued that compelling disclosure would undermine the group’s religious mission and chill the free-exercise rights of donors who donate anonymously according to their beliefs.
