Advocates are sounding the alarm over what they describe as an "existential" threat to health care, one that could give the Trump administration leeway to go after humanitarian groups, journalists, and protesters, according to a new report.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case to determine whether a Crisis Pregnancy Center in New Jersey misled customers about its services. Crisis Pregnancy Centers work to persuade expecting mothers to choose adoption over abortion, and are given wide protections under the First Amendment.
The case is part of an ongoing effort to regulate the $2 billion CPC industry, an effort that has become more difficult after President Donald Trump and his allies took down Roe v. Wade, according to a new report by Mother Jones.
The case centers around an important question: can CPCs challenge state attorney general subpoenas directly in federal court, where they are more likely to win, or do they have to address their concerns in state court first?
If the Supreme Court answers affirmatively, advocates warn that the precedent could be weaponized by the government to squash dissent, especially among nonprofit health care providers that offer abortion care.
“The chilling effect impacts not only the targeted nonprofit, but also the broader nonprofit community, as organizations may avoid lawful speech or actions out of fear that they will lead to investigatory scrutiny,” lawyers for the AnnunciationHouse, a nonprofit that the Trump admin has targeted for providing shelter and services to immigrants, told the outlet. “Left unchecked, the [subpoena] process becomes the punishment.”
The lawyers described the stakes of the case as "existential."