SCOTUS Unanimously Hands Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers A Big Win But The Fight Continues

A serious threat to the pro-life movement and to the First Amendment was halted this week. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, affirming that Christian nonprofits do not forfeit their constitutional rights simply because their beliefs don’t align with those of powerful politicians supporting anti-Christian ideologies.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin targeted First Choice because of its religious and pro-life views by issuing a subpoena and opening an unjustified and unfounded investigation against it. This was never about protecting the public.

Platkin — whose crusade has been continued by his successor, Jennifer Davenport  — engaged in a bald-faced fishing expedition, proposing to troll unlawfully in waters protected by the First Amendment simply because of convictions that did not align with his own.

Deeply sensitive information was demanded, including the names, addresses, phone numbers, and places of employment of First Choice donors, along with up to 10 years of internal, confidential documents. There was no allegation of fraud, no evidence of financial misconduct, and no suggestion that funds were being misused or improperly handled. The organization was targeted for one reason alone: its Christian, pro-life convictions.

Platkin’s gross misuse of his office should concern every American.

When the government can single out nonprofits for investigation solely because of their beliefs, no organization is truly safe. The harassment of one faith-based pregnancy help organization places donors of all ministries nationwide at risk. This kind of intimidation has a chilling effect — not just on speech, but on generosity, service, and the freedom to live out one’s faith in the public square.

Life and its protection are foundational to a Judeo-Christian worldview because life is precious to God and, therefore, at the core of everything we value as a nation. Indeed, it is the first right identified in our founding documents. When we begin to penalize and isolate the organizations and individual donors who defend that right, we set society on a trajectory toward one that no longer values or protects life or liberty at all. We become an anti-life, pro-death culture.

We are grateful that the Supreme Court intervened, but this decision does not mean the danger has passed. This case exposed a deeply troubling willingness by some state officials to weaponize government authority against organizations they ideologically oppose.

This is not an isolated incident. It is yet another front in a broader campaign against pro-life, faith-based organizations — particularly Christian ones. It reflects a growing hostility toward those who work to protect unborn lives and walk alongside mothers and families long after a pregnancy test turns positive.

Faith-based nonprofits must have the assurance that sensitive donor records will not be seized simply because their mission is unpopular with those in power. Similarly, donors who sacrificially support these causes deserve to have their privacy and identities protected from gross governmental overreach. Pregnancy centers must be free to do the work they have faithfully done for decades: offering compassion, truth, and tangible support to women and children in need. When pregnancy help organizations are attacked, the entire pro-life movement is disrupted, and the entire nonprofit landscape is threatened.

Other hostile states, including California and New York, have already demonstrated a pattern of politically targeting pregnancy help organizations and infringing on their constitutional rights to speak, serve, and operate freely.

We cannot afford to let our guard down.

As leaders of Christian, pro-life nonprofits that work hand in hand with pregnancy centers every day, we stand firmly with them. Heartbeat International is the largest global network of pregnancy help organizations, including First Choice Women’s Resource Centers. Lifeline Children’s Services is a holistic child welfare ministry that provides pregnancy counseling and long-term support for women, children, and families — walking with mothers not only through pregnancy, but through postpartum care and beyond.

We have seen firsthand the life-saving and life-changing good this work accomplishes. We have also seen how quickly freedom can erode when deeply held personal convictions become grounds for prosecution. No one should face investigation, intimidation, or imprisonment simply for holding a pro-life belief.

That is why we must stand together — across organizations, across states, and across denominations. This is not just a First Choice Pregnancy Center issue, nor is it a Heartbeat International or Lifeline Children’s Services concern alone. It is a matter that affects the entire pro-life movement and every American who values constitutional freedom.

While this latest attack was thwarted, the responsibility to remain vigilant remains. The freedoms promised in the Constitution are preserved only when actively defended.

And these freedoms are worth defending, because life is precious and both are the backbone of our nation.

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Herbie Newell is the president and executive director of Lifeline Children’s Services, host of The Defender podcast, and author of “Image Bearers: Shifting from Pro-Birth to Pro-Life.”

Jor-El Godsey serves as president of Heartbeat International, the largest and most expansive network of pregnancy help in the world, with nearly 4,000 affiliates located in about 100 countries.