{"id":2601124,"date":"2026-05-11T09:16:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotuss-9-0-ruling-against-new-jerseys-ag-hasnt-stopped-her-harassment-of-pro-life-pregnancy-centers\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T09:21:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:21:05","slug":"scotuss-9-0-ruling-against-new-jerseys-ag-hasnt-stopped-her-harassment-of-pro-life-pregnancy-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotuss-9-0-ruling-against-new-jerseys-ag-hasnt-stopped-her-harassment-of-pro-life-pregnancy-centers\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey&#8217;s AG Keeps Harassing Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fscotuss-9-0-ruling-against-new-jerseys-ag-hasnt-stopped-her-harassment-of-pro-life-pregnancy-centers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2601124&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article argues that New Jersey\u2019s attorney general is using broad legal demands to harass pro-life pregnancy centers. It recounts how former Attorney General Matthew Platkin pursued a sweeping subpoena against First Choice Women\u2019s Resource Centers, including demands for donor names and employment details, despite there being no complaints or evidence of wrongdoing. First Choice sued, and the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held in *First Choice Women\u2019s Resource Centers v. davenport* that the organization coudl bring it&#8217;s First Amendment challenges in federal court rather than being forced to litigate first in state court.<\/p>\n<p>It then claims that promptly after losing, Attorney General Jennifer Davenport continued the fight by filing a letter in state court urging the court to proceed with enforcing the subpoena, while downplaying the Supreme Court ruling as merely procedural and alleging \u201cduplicative litigation.\u201d The piece emphasizes that compelled disclosure of donors chills speech and deters participation-invoking Supreme Court reasoning tied to past cases like *NAACP v. Alabama*-and presents donor-identification demands as a form of First Amendment retaliation and ideological suppression.<\/p>\n<p>it argues the case should return to federal district court for First Choice to address the merits of its constitutional claims, characterizing the prosecution as unsupported by evidence and driven by hostility toward the center\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-gov-pritzker-signs-law-barring-pregnancy-centers-from-using-misinformation\/\" title=\"Illinois Gov. Pritzker bans pregnancy centers from spreading &#039;misinformation&#039;.\">pro-life viewpoint<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin used his office to harass and intimidate pregnancy care centers \u2014 now his successor is intent on doing the same. Platkin\u2019s efforts culminated in a sweeping subpoena to First Choice Women\u2019s Resource Centers, demanding (among other things) that First Choice disclose the names, addresses, and places of employment of its donors.<\/p>\n<p>First Choice filed suit in federal court, but the lower federal courts held that First Choice must first litigate its First Amendment claims in state court. Last week, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-781_pok0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>First Choice Women\u2019s Resource Centers v. Davenport<\/em><\/a>, the Supreme Court unanimously held that First Choice was entitled to bring its First Amendment challenges in federal court.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the day after losing 9-0, Attorney General Jennifer Davenport filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/adfmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/firstchoicedavenportletter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a> in state court demanding that the court \u201cproceed to resolve the enforceability\u201d of her office\u2019s subpoena. Never mind the Supreme Court\u2019s clear holding that First Choice\u2019s federal claims belong in federal court. (And never mind that the litigation stay her office agreed to is still in effect, because the Supreme Court\u2019s mandate has not yet issued.) Incredibly, it seems even a unanimous reversal from the nation\u2019s highest court is not going to slow down New Jersey\u2019s campaign of harassment against pro-life pregnancy centers.<\/p>\n<p>This is what First Amendment retaliation looks like.<\/p>\n<p>The backstory matters. As one of his first official acts in office, Davenport\u2019s predecessor, Platkin, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/DocketPDF\/24\/24-781\/339705\/20250121112546465_USSC%20Petition%20for%20Writ%20of%20Certiorari.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">created<\/a> what he called the \u201cReproductive Rights Strike Force.\u201d The Strike Force partnered with Planned Parenthood to issue a \u201cconsumer alert\u201d warning New Jerseyans about groups like First Choice because they (heaven forbid) do not perform abortions. The attorney general then issued a sweeping subpoena to First Choice demanding up to 10 years of internal documents, including, most egregiously, donor names, addresses, and places of employment. The subpoena threatened the nonprofit with contempt and other serious penalties if it failed to comply.<\/p>\n<p>What evidence of wrongdoing justified this extraordinary demand? None. As Justice Gorsuch\u2019s unanimous opinion explained, New Jersey did not receive a single complaint about First Choice. The attorney general nevertheless <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-781_pok0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">insisted<\/a> that he needed donor names so that his office could call up a \u201crepresentative sample\u201d to determine if they had been misled about First Choice\u2019s mission. (Not that such a phone call from the state\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/live-texas-lawmakers-begin-impeachment-proceedings-for-gop-ag-ken-paxton\/\" title=\"Texas lawmakers start impeachment process for GOP AG Ken Paxton.\">highest law enforcement office<\/a> would be frightening in the slightest.) The Supreme Court\u2019s opinion highlighted the absurdity of the attorney general\u2019s donor deception theory: The solicitation materials the attorney general deemed potentially misleading featured \u201ca donation webpage featuring pictures of parents holding infants and young children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Davenport\u2019s latest salvo in state court only confirms that the real justification for her predecessor\u2019s predatory subpoena was ideological. First Choice believes life begins at conception. It provides counseling, resources, and support to pregnant women. It does not provide abortions or refer clients for abortions. That viewpoint put it in the crosshairs of New Jersey.<\/p>\n<p>Doubling down on her office\u2019s campaign of harassment and retaliation, Attorney General Davenport\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/adfmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/firstchoicedavenportletter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a> downplays the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling as merely procedural. A unanimous Supreme Court confirmed that First Choice did exactly what <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-is-qualified-immunity-heres-what-you-need-to-know\/\" title=\"What Is Qualified Immunity? Here\u2019s What You Need To Know\">civil rights plaintiffs<\/a> are supposed to do \u2014 file in federal court under 42 U.S.C. \u00a7 1983 to vindicate their federal constitutional rights. Yet the attorney general still accuses the organization of doing something improper in \u201csprint[ing] to the federal courthouse.\u201d Even more remarkably, notwithstanding that her office\u2019s state court action was filed <em>after<\/em> First Choice\u2019s federal lawsuit, she blames First Choice for \u201ccreat[ing] duplicative litigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court has already rejected that framing. Section 1983 exists, the unanimous court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-781_pok0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a>, precisely to ensure \u201ca federal forum to citizens who claim that state actors have violated their constitutional rights.\u201d That right belongs to pro-life pregnancy centers no less than to any other civil rights litigant.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court\u2019s unanimous decision also clarifies the constitutional stakes. Drawing on a line of precedent extending back to <em>NAACP v. Alabama <\/em>\u2014 a case where the Supreme Court held unconstitutional efforts to resist integration by demanding the NAACP\u2019s membership lists \u2014 the court explained that disclosure demands \u201cinevitably\u201d deter First Amendment rights. Without such rights, Justice Gorsuch <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-781_pok0.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>, \u201cno two men could safely share the same soapbox, no two women the same church.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Indeed, compelled disclosure doesn\u2019t just burden the organization \u2014 it sends a message to every supporter that his identity is subject to government scrutiny. As the Supreme Court put it, it gives supporters a \u201cvery good reason to clam up\u201d or \u201cabandon the cause.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That chilling effect is not a bug of the attorney general\u2019s subpoena. It\u2019s the feature. And it is why groups as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/search.aspx?filename=\/docket\/docketfiles\/html\/public\/24-781.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ideologically diverse<\/a> as the ACLU and the Conference of Catholic Bishops supported First Choice.<\/p>\n<p>The case should now return to federal district court, where First Choice can finally litigate the merits of its First Amendment claims. Its case is strong. The attorney general had no complaints, no evidence, and no plausible justification for treating pictures of parents holding babies as evidence of fraud. <\/p>\n<p>Her letter is just the latest evidence that New Jersey is motivated not by a desire to protect New Jerseyans but by a crusade to silence viewpoints with which it disagrees. And that\u2019s unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Erin Hawley is chairwoman of Lex Politica&#8217;s Supreme Court and appellate litigation team, of counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, a former law professor, and a former clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former NJ AG Platkin targeted pro-life centers with subpoenas; successor aims to do the same<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1583,"featured_media":2601125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Copy-of-Untitled-94.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[50810,17643,33096,68033,8347],"class_list":["post-2601124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ag-2","tag-harassment","tag-new-jersey","tag-pregnancy-centers","tag-pro-life"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Copy-of-Untitled-94.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1583"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2601124"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2601128,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2601124\/revisions\/2601128"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2601125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2601124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2601124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2601124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}