Pro-lifers fighting back against Massachusetts taxpayer-funded pregnancy resource center smear campaign

Who will stand up for pro-life pregnancy resource centers?

Pro-life organizations are fighting back against what they call a state-sponsored smear campaign against pregnancy resource centers in Massachusetts.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said a $1 million campaign from Gov. Maura Healey’s administration meant to dissuade women from visiting pregnancy resource centers needs to be counteracted. 

“The state is using tax dollars to attack pro-life centers and pressure women into making one choice: abortion,” the center said in a statement. “They’re using deceptive advertising to alarm unsuspecting pregnant women with a litany of dangers to their health and well-being.” 

Last year, the Healey administration’s Department of Public Health partnered with Equity Now and other abortion rights groups to create a $1 million campaign to educate the public about what it sees as the “dangers and potential harm” of pregnancy resource centers. 

The state has spent that money promoting the message on social media, billboards, radio and advertising on buses, trains and depots. 

The ACLJ and the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center, the Massachusetts Family Institute’s legal wing, filed a lawsuit in a Boston U.S. District Court last August, arguing the campaign is meant to silence the pro-life movement.  

Now, the ACLJ is carrying out a campaign of its own, displaying ads outdoors and on streaming and digital platforms to advocate for the help pregnancy resource centers provide.  

“You didn’t plan it. But you can handle it. Get the information and options you need,” reads one of the ads. 

The “Choice Begins Here” campaign is being conducted statewide. 

ACLJ media director Logan Sekulow said his group wants to “drown out the deceptive messaging that is harming women in need” amid the legal challenge. 

“It is our hope that this counter-campaign will not only help undo some of the damage already caused by the smear campaign but also make a positive impact on people’s lives,” he said in a statement. “By providing real choice and hope, we can save innocent lives.” 

While pregnancy resource centers offer free services and counseling to women facing unplanned pregnancies, abortion rights organizations oppose them since they don’t promote abortion. 

Abortion has been broadly legal in Massachusetts since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973, though the state didn’t codify abortion rights until 2020. 

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, liberal lawmakers have turned their attention to attacking pregnancy resource centers. 

As attorney general in 2022, Healey issued a consumer advisory about pregnancy resource centers, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, accused such centers of “torturing” women. Some liberal communities, including Somerville, Massachusetts, have banned them. 

Current Attorney General Andrea Campbell has advised communities with pregnancy resource centers against passing ordinances restricting them, fearing they won’t hold up in court.