Pregnancy center sues California attorney general for ‘attack’ on free exercise of religion

California Attorney General Rob Bonta. / Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 2, 2024 / 18:11 pm (CNA).

Here’s a roundup of pro-life-related developments in the U.S. this week.  

Catholic pregnancy center sues California attorney general

Culture of Life Family Services (CLFS), a Catholic pregnancy center network with three locations in the San Diego area, is suing California Attorney General Rob Bonta for what the network is calling a “politically motivated” campaign to limit the free exercise of religion.

CLFS is a nonprofit staffed by a team of medical professionals who offer a range of services including pregnancy care and abortion pill reversal.

The network is hoping its suit, which was filed on Tuesday, can stop Bonta’s efforts to ban pregnancy centers from promoting chemical abortion reversal treatments.

Chemical abortions currently account for over 60% of all U.S. abortions. The most common form of chemical abortion involves the ingesting of an abortion pill called mifepristone that works by cutting off the flow of nutrients to the unborn baby, essentially starving the baby to death. Abortion pill reversal works by administering progesterone, a chemical that can restore nutrient flow to the baby.

In 2023 Bonta launched a lawsuit against a group of pregnancy centers to stop them from promoting abortion pill reversal treatments. He claimed the treatments are ineffective and dangerous and that pregnancy centers’ promotion of abortion pill reversal amounts to “fraudulent misrepresentation.”

CLFS claims that the opposite is true and that Bonta’s effort to stop religious nonprofits from promoting abortion pill reversal violates their free exercise of religion and free speech rights.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has also filed a similar lawsuit against pregnancy centers in her state.

Utah Supreme Court upholds block on pro-life law

The Supreme Court of Utah upheld a block on a law protecting life at conception, keeping abortion legal until 18 weeks for the time being.

The 4-1 decision issued on Thursday by Utah’s high court reaffirmed a lower court ruling, which keeps the state’s “trigger law” from taking effect while the law works its way through the courts.

The trigger law only allows abortion in cases of rape, incest, fetal defect, or serious risk to the mother’s health. The measure was set to take effect upon the overturn of Roe v. Wade, which occurred in 2022; however, it has remained blocked due to a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood and several other pro-abortion groups.

The Utah Supreme Court said that the lower court “did not abuse its discretion when it concluded that PPAU [Planned Parenthood] and its patients would be irreparably harmed without the injunction” and that it did not “act outside the bounds of its discretion when it concluded that the injunction would not be adverse to the public interest.”

Man charged with assaulting elderly pro-life activists

Patrick Brice, 27, was arrested on July 1 and is being charged with assaulting two elderly pro-life activists outside a Planned Parenthood in Baltimore in May 2023.

According to the American Center for Law and Justice, the firm representing the assaulted pro-life activists, Brice is listed as 6 feet 5 inches tall and 200 pounds and is facing five violent assault charges related to his alleged assault.

The two pro-life activists, Dick Schaefer, then 84, and Mark Crosby, then 73, were offering pro-life sidewalk counseling outside the abortion clinic when the attack occurred.

In June 2023, the Baltimore Police Department released a video of the incident showing a large young man tackling Schaefer into a planter and then shoving Crosby onto the ground before hitting and kicking him in the face. The video shows the man walking away from the scene after the attack. 

According to the American Center for Law and Justice, the beating ensued after a debate about abortion between the pro-life activists and the man.

Brice is being charged with one count of first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, and two counts of assault on elderly above 65.