Governor Maura Healey (Left), Massachusetts Anti- Pregnancy Resource Center Billboard by Alec MacGillis / X
A pro-life organization in Massachusetts filed a federal lawsuit Monday against Gov. Maura Healey, the state commissioner of public health, and a “reproductive equity” foundation, claiming their “overt viewpoint-based campaign of harassment, suppression, and threats” is an attempt to deprive the organization of its rights of free expression and free exercise of religion.
In its complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, A Woman’s Concern, Inc. d/b/a Your Options Medical Centers (YOM) says it seeks “declaratory, compensatory, and injunctive relief to vindicate and defend its constitutional and civil rights to provide medical services without fear of retaliation and threat because of its political and religious views.”
YOM, which operates four crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusetts, claims that Healey and Public Health Commissioner Robert Goldstein
have engaged in a pattern of conduct to target YOM and other pregnancy resource centers (“PRCs”) in Massachusetts, thus depriving Plaintiff of its rights to freedom of speech and free exercise of its religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The defendants, the lawsuit adds, have also “engaged in impermissible viewpoint discrimination against Plaintiff on the basis of its religious and political speech in violation of the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
On August 13, Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) launched Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center and partnered with the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which filed the lawsuit on behalf of YOM.
“Pro-life centers represent one of the biggest threats to abortionists’ bottom lines – and our client is no exception,” explains a post about the case at ACLJ’s website:
Abortionists like Planned Parenthood consider PRCs to be the competition. They will do anything to shut them down, and liberal politicians in Massachusetts have been all too eager to help. But, in doing so, they have violated the U.S. Constitution.
As CatholicVote reported in June, the Bay State, under the administration of Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll (both Democrats) and with the support of Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kate Walsh (also Democrats) launched what it referred to as a “public education campaign” against the “deceptive and dangerous” tactics of pro-life pregnancy care centers.
The anti-pro-life pregnancy center campaign presents a curious narrative that asserts, according to a press statement in June, that
anti-abortion centers often look like medical facilities and purport to offer the full spectrum of reproductive health care while, in reality, they often mislead people about their options if they are pregnant and dissuade them from accessing abortions.
Pro-life pregnancy centers, however, present themselves as “pro-life,” and, as such, do not “mislead people” by portraying themselves as a resource for abortions.
In a statement at the start of her anti-pregnancy center campaign, Healey said Massachusetts is “committed” to abortion:
In Massachusetts, we are committed to protecting and expanding access to safe and legal abortion. That includes protecting patients from the deceptive and dangerous tactics that anti-abortion centers often use to stop people from accessing comprehensive reproductive services. This campaign is an important way to provide accurate information so residents can make informed decisions about reproductive care that are right for them.
In a video titled “A Look Inside Our Ministry,” YOM states it seeks to “help women make a decision for life by the services that we provide.”
“We try to help women with material needs: clothing, diapers, wipes, gift cards, and any other resources that we can find,” Martha Gooding, patient advocate, explains in the video about some of YOM’s services. She adds that the ministry not only offers assistance to pregnant women, but also to any woman with a child under the age of two years old.
The complaint states:
Defendants’ retaliation and selective-enforcement campaign accuses YOM and other PRCs of being a public health threat, of carrying out false and misleading advertising, and of other falsehoods, while actively urging citizens to report PRCs to State law enforcement.
YOM also asserts that Healey and the other defendants “have knowingly targeted pro-life PRCs for repeated enforcement actions without a proper basis,” and have run a “campaign of intimidation” that “directly contributed to the decision of one of YOM’s doctors to stop practicing for YOM.”
“His departure created significant costs for YOM, including requiring YOM to turn patients away,” the complaint continues. The ministry “has also been forced to operate in a culture of fear and harassment from the State,” withstanding “unprecedented investigations, including unnecessary subpoenas, despite a prior state investigation clearing YOM of any wrongdoing.”
A report Tuesday at the New Boston Post also noted that the Massachusetts legislature included $1 million for the “public awareness campaign” targeting pro-life pregnancy centers as part of the state’s supplemental budget bill for fiscal year 2023, which Healey signed into law on March 29, 2023.
“The same line item … includes $250,000 for Reproductive Equity Now’s ‘free abortion legal hotline,’” the report observed.
“Along with taking legal action,” ACLJ asserted in its post, “we’ll be launching a multipronged media campaign to defend and support pro-life pregnancy centers and enable them to continue their lifesaving work without harassment and/or government interference.”
