In National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Clark, (D VT, June 14, 2024), a Vermont federal district court allowed three pro-life pregnancy centers to move ahead with free speech challenges to Vermont's regulation of limited-service pregnancy centers. At issue is a prohibition on disseminating misleading information about the services offered by such pregnancy centers as well as a provision making health care professionals at these pregnancy centers responsible for the conduct and speech of non-licensed individuals. The statute also provides that offering services to reverse a medication abortion constitutes unprofessional conduct by health care workers at the centers. The court rejected the state's claim that the speech being regulated is commercial speech or is regulation of professional conduct that merely incidentally regulates speech. It allowed plaintiffs to move ahead with their claims that the statutes discriminate on the basis of the viewpoint. However, the court dismissed plaintiffs' vagueness claims. ADF issued a press release announcing the decision.
