“The government cannot create special speech rules just because people want to talk about pregnancy choices. This new regulation violates every core principle of free speech law."
UPDATE 5/24/10: Washinton Times coverage
-- From "Maryland law slams door on pro-life speech" by Bob Unruh © 2010 WorldNetDaily 5/21/10
A new law in a Maryland county that apparently intends to shut down the speech of pro-life counselors is being challenged in federal court by a pregnancy center that wants to continue offering free advice to mothers-to-be.
The lawsuit was filed [recently] in U.S. District Court in Maryland over the law adopted in Montgomery County that requires such counseling centers to post conspicuously a sign advising that there is no licensed medical professional on staff and the county health officer thinks women should consult their physicians.
According to the Alliance Defense Fund, which is pursuing the legal action, there are no similar requirements for abortion businesses.
But ADF explained as the law is worded, it also could require "maternity stores, sidewalk counselors or anyone in a church that talks to pregnant women to 'conspicuously post' signs that state that no licensed medical professional is on staff."
Fines of more than $20,000 a month are embedded in the law for those who say something they shouldn't.
It is the second such case that has arisen recently over attacks by abortion supporters on those who counsel against the termination of a baby's life. ADF reported a lawsuit was filed by the pro-life Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns in Baltimore in March over a city policy that forces pro-life centers to post signs "stating that they don't provide abortions or birth control referrals."
Montgomery County previously was in the news when county officials adopted a gender "anti-discrimination" rule that critics argued could create coed showers, locker rooms and other public facilities.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "Suit Challenges Regulations Hitting Crisis Pregnancy Centers" by James Tillman, LifeSiteNews.com 5/21/10
Montgomery County councilmember Trachtenberg has made clear the motive of the regulation. She claimed that CPCs often provide false or misleading information to women by telling them that abortions and oral contraceptives cause breast cancer and that condoms are ineffective in preventing pregnancy and STDs.
However, a recent study by Jessica Dolle et al. of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that both abortion and oral contraceptives raise the risk of breast cancer. Numerous other studies have found some connection between abortion and breast cancer, just as various studies or organizations have found a link between contraceptives and breast cancer.
Similarly, some studies have indicated that condom use fails to prevent transmission of STDs.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
