The question for the justices is whether the centers may pursue a First Amendment challenge to a state subpoena seeking donor information in federal court.
Concerned that faith-based “crisis pregnancy centers” in New Jersey were misleading women, the state’s attorney general in 2023 issued a subpoena seeking information from them, including the identities of their donors.
The centers sought to challenge the subpoenas in federal court on First Amendment grounds, relying on a 2021 Supreme Court decision that said California could not require all charities soliciting contributions in the state to report the identities of their major donors while leaving open the possibility of targeted subpoenas.
On Monday, the court agreed to hear a challenge from the New Jersey centers that may help clarify the scope of that exception.
Crisis pregnancy centers have been flash points in the abortion rights debate. Often operated by faith-based groups opposed to abortion, they offer counseling and other services to pregnant women, generally with a goal of persuading them to decide against an abortion.
In his Supreme Court brief urging the justices to deny review, Matthew Platkin, the state’s attorney general, said his subpoena was meant to gather information on whether the centers had “misled donors and potential clients, among others, into believing that” they were “providing certain reproductive health care services.”
The subpoena sought copies of ads and donor solicitations, substantiation for claims in them, and the identities of medical personnel at the centers and of donors who contributed using one of two websites.
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