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What Looks Like an Abortion Case Could Actually Affect Your Free Speech

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WASHINGTON – One of this year's major US Supreme Court cases might appear to be a fight over abortion, but it goes much deeper.  The high court's decision could have a chilling effect on free speech.
 
California legislators passed a law forcing pro-life pregnancy centers to do the unthinkable: advertise for abortion.
 
Tom Glessner's National Institute of Family and Life Advocates sued over that law.   

"The issue here is can the government mandate that a faith-based ministry, or for that matter anybody, speak a message with which they fundamentally disagree? And if they fail to comply, then fine them, penalize them and close them down? Because that's what California's trying to do," he told CBN News.
 
What's interesting is that although pro-life pregnancy centers are certainly involved in this case – NIFLA v. Becerra – their fate is not the core issue here.  As one plaintiff told CBN News, "What's going to matter is whether the justices care more about abortion or free speech."
 
Glessner agreed.

"Everybody's going to be endangered if this law is upheld because now the government can bully their way into anybody's life and say, 'You must speak this message whether you disagree with it or not,' " he said.
 
That's why Glessner, a legal advocate for some 1,500 pregnancy centers, thinks his side will win NIFLA v. Becerra.
 
"I was in the court when it was argued, and even the liberal justices were very, very, very hard on the state of California," he said.
 
He believes the abortion industry pushed California legislators to pass the bill specifically to help the abortion industry's bottom line.
 
"When a pro-life pregnancy center reaches a woman's heart and she changes her mind, guess what?  The abortion industry loses some money," Glessner stated.  "And hundreds of thousands of women have done that over the years. That's millions of dollars that the abortion industry has lost."
 
Over the last 25 years, as Glessner's watched the pro-life pregnancy center movement grow and grow, he's witnessed the number of abortions go down and down.
 
"In 1992, the nation reported some 1.6 million abortions a year.  Today, that number is about 900,000," he said.  "That's a horrible number, but a reduction of almost 700,000 abortions annually is a huge accomplishment."

The centers have seen millions of successes as they've fulfilled their main goal of making the fetus come alive to a pregnant woman.

"When an abortion-vulnerable or abortion-minded woman sees her unborn child on an ultrasound screen prior to her making her decision, 90 percent of those mothers will choose life… 90 percent," Glessner explained.

The high court's ruling on this case is expected in late June.

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About The Author

Paul
Strand

Como corresponsal del buró de noticias de CBN en Washington DC, Paul Strand ha cubierto una variedad de temas políticos y sociales, con énfasis en defensa, justicia y el Congreso. Strand comenzó su labor en CBN News en 1985 como editor de asignaciones nocturnas en Washington, DC. Después de un año, trabajó con CBN Radio News por tres años, volviendo a la sala de redacción de televisión para aceptar un puesto como editor en 1990. Después de cinco años en Virginia Beach, Strand se trasladó de regreso a la capital del país, donde ha sido corresponsal desde 1995. Antes de unirse a CBN News, Strand