Pro-Abortion Bill Defeated in Washington State

Its a significant victory for pro-life pregnancy centers and the unborn in Washington State. Last week, the Washington State legislature was considering a bill that if passed would have forced many pro-life pregnancy centers to shut down due to new burdensome and expensive regulations targeting only pro-life centers.

I am excited to report that this pro-abortion bill failed to even receive a vote and is effectively now dead for this legislative session.

This bill, crafted by pro-abortion organizations, would have forced pro-life pregnancy centers to place a disclaimer over their doors, listing the services they do not provide such as abortions, and allowed anyone aggrieved by pro-life centers to sue them.

The ACLJ was engaged in this fight from the beginning, sending a letter to every member of the Washington House Rules Committee explaining why this bill would violate the First Amendment and the Washington Constitution.

Had this bill passed, it would have had a devastating result unconstitutionally restricting the free speech rights of pro-life pregnancy centers in that state. This was an attempt by pro-abortion forces to effectively shut down efforts to help expectant mothers choose to save their unborn babies.

This is truly a victory for the unborn.

However, even as this bill failed to pass in Washington State, a similar pro-abortion bill was passed last week in New York City. We have sent a letter to Mayor Bloomberg urging him to give the people of New York an opportunity to voice their opinion on this controversial bill. We represent a majority of the pro-life pregnancy centers in New York City, and if necessary, are prepared to defend their constitutional rights in court.

The ACLJ remains committed to fight against these unconstitutional restrictions on the free speech rights of pro-life pregnancy centers each time they are proposed in state legislatures or city counsels, and if need be, in the courts.