Crisis Pregnancy Centers File Lawsuit Against Vermont Shield Law

The anti-abortion organization the National Institute of Family and Life (NIFLA) and two crisis pregnancy centers in Vermont filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court to attempt to block the state’s Act 15, which the lawsuit argues unconstitutionality “impedes” the ability of these centers to support Vermont women and their families.

Act 15, a shield law, requires crisis pregnancy centers to adhere to the  “unfair and deceptive act,” prohibiting them from using “false and misleading advertising about services.”

Crisis pregnancy centers, run by anti-abortion groups such as NIFLA, have been regularly criticized for providing misinformation on sexual and reproductive health issues and using deceptive methods to stop women from getting abortions. Abortion advocates also say these harms are compounded by the fact that women who end up in these centers are often vulnerable or in crisis.

The lawsuit describes these centers as empowering women “who are or may be pregnant to choose to give birth in circumstances where they wish to do so but feel they do not have the necessary resources or social support.” The lawsuit adds that these centers provide support and resources for new mothers.

Act 15  was signed into law by Republican Gov. Phil Scott in May in conjunction with H. 89, another “shield law,” that protects those giving or receiving gender-affirming health care services or abortion services in Vermont from criminal investigations.

The lawsuit, which is seeking injunctive relief against the enforcement of the law, argues that the section of Act 15 that pertains to crisis pregnancy centers violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments “by imposing vague and viewpoint-discriminatory laws that target speech and conduct.” The plaintiffs further argue that the law in question “censors the centers’ ability to advertise their free services.”

In response to the filing of the lawsuit, President of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates Thomas Glessner said that the state is “trampling First Amendment rights of people whose only goal is to help women in their time of need,”  VTDigger reported.