Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 12, 2023 / 14:30 pm
Illinois has agreed to halt its enforcement of a law that restricts the speech and advertising of pro-life crisis pregnancy centers following a lawsuit that challenged its constitutionality on First Amendment and other grounds.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul agreed to a court order that imposes a permanent injunction against the legislation on Dec. 11. This prohibits the state from enforcing the law, which had already been temporarily paused by a judge pending the outcome of the litigation.
“This law is just one of a number of illegal new laws enacted across the country that restrict pro-life speech — we hope this permanent injunction, with full attorney’s fees, serves as a warning to other states that would seek to follow Illinois and try to silence pro-life viewpoints,” Peter Breen, the head of litigation for the Thomas More Society, the Catholic law firm that represents the pro-life pregnancy centers, said in a statement.
The now-defunct law enacted new restrictions in the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. However, the restrictions only applied to pro-life pregnancy centers and explicitly exempted organizations that perform abortions. The rules applied to advertisements and when speaking with clients.