The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a request by a New Jersey-based network of pro-life pregnancy centers to stop a subpoena that would force it to disclose donor information.
Last November, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin subpoenaed First Choice for records that included donor lists and private correspondence to investigate whether the network was violating the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
Platkin was one of 16 Democrat attorneys general who signed a letter last year accusing pro-life pregnancy centers of spreading “misinformation and harm” by “misleading consumers and delaying access to critical, time-sensitive reproductive healthcare.”
In December, before the subpoena deadline came, First Choice filed a complaint against Platkin, claiming in the lawsuit that the subpoena was too broad in its scope and was unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Michael A. Shipp, an Obama appointee, ruled against the network in January, concluding that the complaint was “not ripe” and that the court “lacks subject-matter jurisdiction.”
Alliance Defending Freedom, representing the pregnancy centers, then filed a petition with the Supreme Court, asking them to stop the subpoena.
ADF argued the lower court ruling “threatens not just the freedoms but the safety and support of First Choice’s donors, volunteers, and associates.”
This week, that request was denied.