Law firm asks Supreme Court to protect Christian pregnancy center from state investigation

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit law firm, recently asked the Supreme Court to defend a coalition of New Jersey Christian crisis pregnancy centers from an investigation ordered by state Attorney General Matthew Platkin, reportedly because of the group’s faith beliefs.

In a press release, Becket stated that it filed an amicus brief Aug. 28 in First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin, a case that dates back to 2023. As CatholicVote previously reported, Platkin, a Democrat, subpoenaed First Choice and ordered the pregnancy centers to disclose up to one decade of internal records and reveal the names of donors behind roughly 5,000 contributions. 

According to Becket, Platkin also demanded that the centers show their “faith-based policies for staff and volunteers, and the materials the ministry uses to counsel women.”

First Choice has operated since 1985, Becket noted, and provides pregnant women with counseling, medical services, and resources like clothing, food, and diapers. The centers also provide high school students with educational programs. According to Becket, the organization requires its employees to adhere to a statement of faith and promise to protect human dignity from conception until natural death.

Becket also stated that Platkin’s investigation into First Choice was part of his campaign against pro-life pregnancy centers across the state, which he launched following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. The law firm said that the attorney general “made these sweeping demands without identifying a single complaint or pointing to any evidence that First Choice was violating the law.”

In the release, Becket Senior Counsel William Haun stated, “The First Amendment prohibits New Jersey from trolling through First Choice’s religious-mission decisions and thereby threatening its life-affirming work.”

He later continued, “Self-government requires respect for the independence of religious institutions, not subjecting their religious decisions to state scrutiny. Religious ministries exist to serve a higher authority than a New Jersey bureaucrat. The Court should end New Jersey’s unnecessary and unconstitutional intrusion.”