In National Institute for Family & Life Advocates v. James, (WD NY, Aug. 22, 2024), a New York federal district court preliminarily enjoined New York's Attorney General from enforcing New York's false advertising law against two pregnancy centers that promote abortion pill reversal in their promotional material and on their websites. The court said in part:
In short, a "morally and religiously motivated offering of free services cannot be described as a bare 'commercial transaction.'"... As such, the speech at issue here is not commercial.... . Nothing could be fundamentally less commercial than this speech about how a woman might save her pregnancy....
Because Plaintiffs' speech is noncommercial, restrictions are subject to strict scrutiny.... The State's enforcement of the New York Statutes against pro-life pregnancy centers based on their speech about APR is a content-based restriction, as it "target[s] speech based on its communicative content."... It is also viewpoint-based. The Attorney General targets statements supporting the APR protocol....
At the preliminary injunction hearing, the State conceded that it does not attempt to satisfy strict scrutiny. And the record is devoid of anything to suggest that this standard could be met....
