WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is stepping into a free speech fight over California’s attempt to regulate anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers.
The justices said this week they will hear an appeal from centers that complained that a new state law forces them to provide information about abortion and other services.
Lower courts had allowed the law to take effect. Unlicensed centers also must inform clients of their status.
A federal appeals court in New York struck down similar provisions of a New York City ordinance, although it upheld the requirement for unlicensed centers to say that they lack a license.
The free-speech issue has arisen in different contexts around the country.
In 2014, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, struck down a North Carolina law that required abortion providers to show and describe an ultrasound to the pregnant woman.
The court said the law is “ideological in intent” and violates doctors’ free-speech rights.
