Shocking New Evidence Supports Allegations of State-Abortion Lobby Collusion in Smear Campaign Targeting Christian Pregnancy Centers

When the ACLJ – alongside our local counsel, Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center – filed our original lawsuit against the governor of Massachusetts, her Department of Public Health (DPH), and the state’s top abortion activist organization, Reproductive Equity Now (REN), we alleged a troubling pattern of viewpoint discrimination, government retaliation, and coordination with abortion activists to silence pro-life speech.

Massachusetts and REN executed a coordinated attack on pro-life Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRCs) with the goal of shutting them down. As we said from the beginning, “[T]his pro-abortion smear campaign involves selective law enforcement prosecution, public threats, and even a state-sponsored advertising campaign with a singular goal – to deprive [pro-life centers] of their First Amendment rights to voice freely their religious and political viewpoints regarding the sanctity of human life.”

Now, thanks to thousands of pages of internal communications and planning materials obtained through public records requests, we can say unequivocally that our allegations are confirmed and supported by the government’s own documents.

What was once a plausible theory is now an undeniable fact: Massachusetts officials partnered with REN in a sustained, state-sponsored smear campaign designed to target, intimidate, and ultimately shut down Christian pro-life pregnancy centers like our client, Your Options Medical (YOM).

The campaign was never about “consumer protection.” It was about suppressing dissent. It was about discrediting the religious and moral viewpoints of the pro-life community. And now, the evidence is on the record.

Here’s What We Now Know

In response to our demand for transparency, Massachusetts DPH disclosed that between 2022 and 2024, it received only two complaints against PRCs. Both were filed by Reproductive Equity Now – not by patients, not by concerned citizens, but by the very activists who helped launch the state’s campaign.

One of those complaints targeted Your Options Medical, a licensed Christian pregnancy medical clinic that has served Massachusetts communities for over two decades without a single patient complaint. REN’s accusation was based not on firsthand knowledge but on press articles, and it was designed to trigger state scrutiny. It worked – DPH investigated and found no violations, requiring only a minor edit to a policy manual.

But even after clearing YOM, the state escalated, opening a new investigation into YOM’s medical director through the Board of Registration in Medicine, where REN, as the complainant, would have access to sensitive materials.

Collusion and Pretext Exposed

The most damning revelation? DPH and REN were planning this campaign long before any complaints existed. Moreover, the complaints were manufactured by the abortion lobby and submitted strategically by REN, who had full knowledge of the agenda for and timeline of the smear campaign. That is the epitome of collusion.

Through internal emails and agendas obtained via public records requests, we now know:

• DPH invited REN to co-author government messaging, review advertisements, and help script public press releases.
• REN participated in government strategy meetings, signed off on marketing materials, and had the authority to approve public spending.
• The state’s PR firm developed a media campaign in coordination with REN – one that falsely labeled PRCs like YOM as deceptive and dangerous.
• DPH and REN were fully aware of the religious nature of Plaintiff YOM and other PRCs, and they chose not to target religion in the campaign only because they didn’t believe it would go over well with the public – many of whom also have religious views about abortion.
• The campaign used inflammatory slogans like “They LIE to your face” and characterized pregnancy centers as “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
• Documents include specific targeting of Your Options Medical by name and image – even referencing its Facebook posts and website as examples of “deception.”
• DPH’s licensure guidance was specifically released to target pro-life pregnancy centers and the medical professionals who work with them.
• And most disturbingly, the state acknowledged that it was using REN to do what it could not legally do itself – such as publishing pregnancy center logos on REN’s site to warn the public against them, giving the appearance of a government-endorsed blacklist while shielding the state from direct liability.

(All of this new evidence can be found in our new exhibits filed with the court: Exhibit 5, Exhibit 6, Exhibit 7, Exhibit 8, Exhibit 9, Exhibit 10, Exhibit 11, and Exhibit 12.)

This wasn’t education. It was state-sponsored efforts to smear, silence, and destroy pro-life pregnancy centers like our client.

DPH Ignored Complaints Against Abortion Clinics

Even more telling is what the state didn’t do.

When the state chose to publicly smear pro-life centers, no complaints had been filed against the PRCs. However, another public records request revealed that at least eight complaints were filed with DPH against Massachusetts abortion clinics – including allegations of expired medication, fire hazards, biohazard violations, and unsterile equipment and conditions.

No public awareness campaigns were launched in response. No billboards. No press releases. No license threats. No subpoenas. In fact, at least one abortion clinic that failed a health inspection didn’t have follow-up visits, in violation of state requirements.

In contrast, DPH launched a million-dollar smear campaign against PRCs without cause – a double standard that makes clear this campaign is about ideology, not public health.

The ACLJ Is Taking Action

We will not stand by while the government uses its vast power to blacklist and bully pro-life ministries like Your Options Medical. We are aggressively litigating this case, and our amended complaint makes clear: This campaign was never about public health – it was always about silencing dissent.

Now that the public records have pulled back the curtain, the truth is undeniable. REN didn’t just influence the government – it used it to target the very organizations to which it is ideologically opposed.

We will keep fighting in court and in the public square to ensure that pro-life voices are not silenced and that every woman has the right to hear the truth before making a life-altering decision.

The First Amendment does not permit the government to threaten and punish people for offering life-affirming alternatives to abortion.

We will not back down.

In light of the public records we uncovered, the federal court granted our request to amend the complaint – and we just filed that amended complaint, laying out in even greater detail the full extent of the state’s unconstitutional actions and its unlawful alliance with the abortion lobby. We are utilizing every available legal resource to hold these government actors accountable.

Help us continue this critical fight. Share this story. Stand with us. And pray for those on the front lines defending life and liberty.