During oral arguments on Tuesday, Supreme Court justices seemed sympathetic to an anti-abortion pregnancy center and appeared open to arguments that the group should be able to challenge a subpoena against it in federal court.
The case, First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin, hinges on a technical question stemming from a 2023 subpoena New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin filed against First Choice, which operates throughout the state. The subpoena sought to investigate whether the organization was “misleading donors and potential clients into believing that it was providing certain reproductive health care services,” according to Platkin’s initial brief. The court was technically considering whether First Choice’s decision to fight Platkin’s subpoena in federal court was appropriate, or if they should have started in state court.
While Tuesday’s arguments focused on a procedural issue, a win for First Choice could make it easier for the increasing number of anti-abortion pregnancy resource centers around the country to skirt state regulation. These clinics are often faith-based organizations that offer pregnancy resources and anti-abortion counseling. Since the fall of federal abortion protections, the number of anti-abortion pregnancy centers has grown — some now occupy the very buildings that once held actual abortion clinics.
