New California Bill Targets Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers for Alleged ‘Misinformation’

The California State Capitol building in Sacramento on April 18, 2022. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

A California lawmaker introduced a bill that would enable Californians to sue pro-life pregnancy centers for speech or advertisements they deem to be “false or misleading.”

Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Livermore), introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 315 on Jan. 26, and has accused such centers of luring unsuspecting women seeking abortions into their crisis pregnancy centers, and “mislead[ing] and pressur[ing] the patients about their pregnancy options.”

“California cannot let predatory crisis pregnancy centers continue to lie to pregnant people about abortion care,” she stated in a Feb. 2 press release. “With the increase in abortion seekers coming from other states, it is even more critical to end this dangerous deception.”

According to the language of the bill, it “would prohibit a person doing business in California who is performing, has performed, or intends to perform a pregnancy-related service from advertising using a false or misleading statement related to the person’s provision, or lack of provision, of abortion.”

It would make a violation of this prohibition an unfair business practice, and authorize the state attorney general, district attorneys, and city attorneys to sue for injunctive relief or fines of “at least $1,000, and reasonable attorney’s fees.”

AB 315 follows up on the promises of California’s pro-abortion legislators to bolster abortion services in reaction to the United States Supreme Court ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last June, which overturned Roe v. Wade, the previous ruling that made access to abortion a constitutional right.

The bill came after California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a consumer alert warning last June that some crisis pregnancy centers “do not offer abortion or comprehensive reproductive care” while claiming otherwise.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta (C) joined local officials from Long Beach, Calif., to support legalized abortion nationwide in Long Beach, Calif., on May 6, 2022. Screenshot via YouTube

Criticisms

The California Family Council, a Christian watchdog group, has opposed the bill on the grounds that it is so expansive that any pro-life ministry or church that offers women “health counseling service related to pregnancy” could be affected.

According to the group’s Feb. 7 statement, the bill language “does not define what information would be considered ‘misleading’ or ‘false’ or how someone would know which opinions about abortion or pregnancy are allowed.”

Denise Burke, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative legal advocacy group, said in the same statement if the bill is passed, these pro-life centers “could be sued by abortion activists who claim that factually true statements about abortion’s maternal health risks are ‘misleading’ or ‘false’ information.”

She said these pregnancy centers provide free services for women’s medical, material, and emotional needs “while abortion businesses prey on their desperation and try to convince them that abortion is their only option—all for profit.”

Jonathan Keller, president of California Family Council, told The Epoch Times Feb. 8 that California “seems determined to violate the constitutional rights” to free speech.

He cited the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NILFA) against former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, a landmark case that overturned, on constitutional grounds, legislation targeting NILFA’s pregnancy centers.

“If Sacramento lawmakers persist, we expect a similar result from the nine justices in Washington,” he said.