Maryland County Faces Lawsuit for Passing Law Targeting Pregnancy Centers

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   May 19, 2010   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Maryland County Faces Lawsuit for Passing Law Targeting Pregnancy Centers

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
May 19
, 2010

Rockville, MD (LifeNews.com) — Officials in Montgomery County in Maryland face a new lawsuit related to an ordinance it approved that targets pregnancy centers. The county, located in a suburban area of both Baltimore and Washington, D.C., approved new rules after Baltimore approved its own ordinance attacking such centers.

Montgomery County Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg sponsored the legislation that passed on a 7-2 vote.

Under the law, pregnancy centers would be required to tell potential clients that they should go elsewhere for medical advice because Trachtenberg claims they are misleading women.

The new law makes it so pregnancy centers must post a disclaimer if they don’t have medical professionals on staff and would refer them to a center with licensed medical professionals.

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed suit Wednesday against Montgomery County on behalf of a Silver Spring pregnancy resource center.

The lawsuit says it is wrong to make “limited-service pregnancy centers” and individuals who have a “primary purpose” of offering information about pregnancy face steep fines if they don’t post signs saying the county believes women should consult someone else.

"There is no abortion exception to the First Amendment,” said Mark Rienzi, lead counsel for Centro Tepeyac Women’s Center and a law professor at Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law.

He explained: “The government cannot create special speech rules just because people want to talk about pregnancy choices. And it certainly cannot target pro-life speakers for special sign requirements and fines while leaving speech by abortion clinics entirely unregulated. This new regulation violates every core principle of free speech law.”

Specifically, the signs must tell women that a licensed medical professional is not on staff and that the county health department advises them to speak with a licensed medical professional. The discriminatory policy does not require pro-abortion facilities, such as Planned Parenthood, to provide similar notification when women visit and don’t receive medical services.

Under Resolution No. 16-1252, failure to post such signs can result in fines of more than $20,000 a month–$500 for the first day of violation and $750 for each day thereafter.

As currently worded, the law could also require maternity stores, sidewalk counselors, or anyone in a church that talks to pregnant women to “conspicuously post” signs that state that no licensed medical professional is on staff and that “the Montgomery County Health Officer encourages women who are or could be pregnant to consult a licensed health care provider.”

The county council explicitly admitted that the policy’s intent is to regulate pro-life centers because the council disagrees with their past speech about abortion’s risks.

“The government’s enforcement of policies against pro-life pregnancy centers and its refusal to apply the same rules to abortion facilities is an unconstitutionally discriminatory practice,” said ADF Legal Counsel Casey Mattox. “These centers are honest, do not profit from their services, treat women with dignity, and offer them real choices. Planned Parenthood and its pro-abortion allies make millions performing abortions on women and girls in crisis, so they are undoubtedly only too happy to see the government engage in this unfair attack.”

Attorney Bob Michael and ADF-allied attorney John Garza are serving as co-counsel in the lawsuit Centro Tepeyac v. Montgomery County, which was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

In March, a separate lawsuit in Baltimore challenged a similar policy that forces pro-life centers to post signs on their doors stating that they don’t provide abortions or birth control referrals.

The Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns faces a $150 fine per day for not posting the signs, which they argue are unconstitutional. The city places no sign requirements on Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities regarding services they do not offer. Rienzi is co-counsel in that case.

Related web sites:
ADF – https://www.telladf.org

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