Legal victory for life, privacy for pregnancy centers in New York

(The Daily Signal) – After filing a lawsuit, a Catholic community of sisters in New York has won a victory for life and for privacy.

In June 2022, New York passed a law allowing state officials to access pro-life pregnancy resource centers’ sensitive information. The state Department of Health was granted permission to investigate pro-life pregnancy centers via demanding access to information about the centers’ policies.

The law was immediately concerning to the Sisters of Life because “It’s so important that they feel safe,” Sister Maris Stella says, referring to the women they serve.

Stella, vicar general of the Sisters of Life, says the community of nuns is dedicated to serving women facing unplanned pregnancies, and part of that service often involves having “sacred conversations with them, and we come to know their history, their hopes, their fears, their dreams.”

To protect the nuns’ privacy and the privacy of the women they serve, the Sisters filed a lawsuit asking a federal court for an order to protect them from government investigation. In November, New York agreed to comply with the federal court order.

Stella joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” with Mark Rienzi, president and CEO of Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which litigated the case on the sisters’ behalf, to discuss the legal victory. Stella also offers her insights on the future of the pro-life movement. Listen here.