Pro-life pregnancy center sues New Jersey AG over subpoena demanding donor information
A Christian pro-life pregnancy center is suing the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office after the state agency sent a subpoena demanding that the nonprofit release information about its donors and employees.
Alliance Defending Freedom announced Monday that it had filed a lawsuit against New Jersey’s Democrat Attorney General Matthew Platkin on behalf of First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, a network of pro-life pregnancy centers in the state.
The complaint, filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey's Trenton Vicinage last week, asks a federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction halting the enforcement of a subpoena issued last month that seeks extensive information about First Choice.
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As indicated in the complaint, the Nov. 15 subpoena expressed concern about “possible violations of ‘the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act’” committed by First Choice when providing information about “the lawful practice of Abortion Pill Reversal.”
Specifically, the subpoena cited the attorney general’s authority under the NJCF Act, the Charitable Registration and Investigation Act and the state law enforcement agency’s "investigative authority regarding Professions and Occupations" to demand a copy of all solicitations and advertisements published by First Choice as well as documents provided to clients and/or donors, documents identifying personnel and outlining donations made to the ministry.
Additionally, Platkin’s subpoena asks First Choice to provide documents outlining where the network of pro-life pregnancy centers sends clients seeking abortion pill reversals, complaints and concerns about the organization’s services, as well as copies of statements questioning the efficacy of abortion and promoting the abortion pill reversal process. His office is also demanding that First Choice present documents related to other pro-life groups, including Heartbeat International, Abortion Pill Reversal Network and Care Net.
“Complying with the Subpoena would bury First Choice in an inordinate amount of work,” the lawsuit against Platkin stated. “The Ministry estimates that it would take several staff members—including the Executive Director, the volunteer Medical Director, the finance department, and all medical staff—at least an entire month to produce all requested documents.”
The complaint also warned that “disclosure of documents that identify First Choice’s donors, as required by the Subpoena, will likely result in a decrease in donations, as donors will be hesitant to associate with the Ministry out of fear of retaliation and public exposure.”
“Disclosure of the identities of First Choice’s employees will likely cause current employees to leave the already short-staffed Ministry and will deter prospective employees from applying out of the reasonable fear of retaliation and public disclosure,” the lawsuit predicted.
The lawsuit asserted that Platkin has “a well-documented zeal for abortion, strong antipathy toward organizations that protect pregnant women and unborn children from the harms of abortion, and a particular animus toward pregnancy resource centers like those operated by First Choice.”
The lawsuit also noted that Platkin has worked with abortion provider Planned Parenthood and treats their "comparable secular activity ... more favorably than First Choice’s religious activity, having declined to serve subpoenas on them despite their well-known failures in data security and misleading statements on their websites."
“It’s unlawful for New Jersey’s attorney general to use the authority of his office to harm those with whom he disagrees,” said ADF Senior Counsel Lincoln Wilson in a statement Monday.
“Attorney General Platkin has aligned himself with Planned Parenthood’s pro-abortion mission and even enlisted its help to target pro-life pregnancy centers like our client First Choice.”
An unnamed spokesperson for Platkin's office said in a statement to The Washington Times that "our subpoena does not violate their rights, and we are confident that the courts will agree.”
"Under longstanding New Jersey law, nonprofits operating in our state cannot engage in deception about the work they do," stated the attorney general spokesperson.
"New Jersey law provides the Attorney General clear authority to investigate nonprofits that may be violating those requirements. By filing this lawsuit, First Choice is refusing to even answer questions about its candor and its operations."
Platkin was one of 16 Democrat attorneys general who had previously signed a letter accusing pro-life pregnancy centers of spreading “misinformation and harm” by “misleading consumers and delaying access to critical, time-sensitive reproductive healthcare.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
