WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on the Supreme Court striking down a California law related to abortion (all times local):
1:45 p.m.
Abortion-rights supporters say the Supreme Court “turned its back on women” by striking down a California law requiring anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion services.
NARAL Pro-Choice America calls the pregnancy centers “fake women’s health centers” because they do not provide details about a full range of services. Critics of the centers say they prey on low-income women.
The group says the court’s decision is a step toward dismantling abortion rights.
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California is urging the state attorney general and law enforcement officials to “protect the rights of patients from deceptive practices.”
Supporters of the court’s decision call it a win for free speech and say the law unfairly required the centers to promote abortion.
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12:30 p.m.
California Democrats and supporters of abortion rights are blasting a U.S. Supreme Court decision striking a state law that required anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion services.
State Attorney General Xavier Becerra says the law was aimed at ensuring low-income women in particular had access to “critical and non-biased information” about pregnancy options. He vows to keep working to ensure women receive information about all available health care options.
Assemblyman David Chiu, the bill’s author, says the court decision shows reproductive rights are more vulnerable than ever.
The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, which brought the lawsuit, is cheering the court for overturning what it called a “coercive law” forcing the centers to provide “free advertising for tax-funded abortions.”
Abortion rights groups estimate more than 4,000 such pregnancy centers are operating around the nation.
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10:15 a.m.
The Supreme Court says a California law that forces anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion probably violates the Constitution.
The 5-4 ruling Tuesday also casts doubts on similar laws in Hawaii and Illinois.
The California law took effect in 2016. It requires centers that are licensed by the state to tell clients about the availability of contraception, abortion and pre-natal care, at little or no cost.
Centers that are unlicensed have to post a sign that said so. The court struck down that portion of the law.
The centers said they were singled out and forced to deliver a message with which they disagreed. California said the law was needed to let poor women know all their options.
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