Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) has filed suit against Montgomery County, Maryland, charging discrimination against pro-life pregnancy centers. The county has enacted new speech rules that specifically target pro-life clinics, requiring them to post signs explaining that women should go elsewhere for care or advice. Under the new policy, failure to do so could result in fines exceeding $20,000 a month. However, the policy does not require pro-abortion facilities to provide similar notification.
"They basically tell [pro-life clinics they] have to post a sign saying that 'we don't have any medical professionals here, and the county recommends you go find a medical professional,'" explains Casey Mattox, legal counsel for ADF. "They don't impose any rule like that, of course, on abortion clinics, and they intentionally crafted this rule to exclude them."
The idea, according to Mattox, violates the Constitution by motivating potential clients for pro-life pregnancy centers to go somewhere else.
"The government can't create special speech rules just because people want to talk about pregnancy, and it absolutely can't target pro-life speakers with these special requirements and fines," he contends. "We're talking thousands of dollars in fines that they would impose upon them. This violates every core principle of free-speech rules."
The ADF legal counsel is asking the court to issue an injunction and halt enforcement of the law, pending a ruling in the case. SOURCE: One News Now
1 comment:
If a clinic of either persuasian does not have medical staff, then they should not even be operating as a clinic.
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