The Government cannot force pro-life pregnancy centers in the US to advertise abortion services the US Supreme Court ruled yesterday. A State law in California required pregnancy centers that do not perform abortions to display a notice advertising programs that provide free or low-cost abortions for eligible women. The notice had to include a phone number for a county office that would refer women to Planned Parenthood or other abortion providers. Pro-life groups sued to block implementation of the law and yesterday the Supreme Court agreed with them with Justice Thomas saying that the law is “likely” unconstitutional as an infringement on free speech.

The Court’s libertarian, swing vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is normally liberal on social issues, wrote a striking concurring opinion. He said the California law is a “paradigmatic example of the serious threat presented when government seeks to impose its own message in the place of individual speech, thought, and expression.”

“For here the State requires primarily pro-life pregnancy centers to promote the State’s own preferred message advertising abortions. This compels individuals to contradict their most deeply held beliefs, beliefs grounded in basic philosophical, ethical, or religious precepts, or all of these.”