The Battle over Babies Continues

By Deacon Mike Manno

(The Wanderer) – We may have thought that since Roe v. Wade was overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson earlier this year that the ongoing battle over babies’ lives might be coming to an end. As much as we would wish, that is not even close to being true: Just take a look at last week’s column.

The problem, of course, is that those who believe that a child’s life belongs solely to its mother as long as he is in utero will not back down from their extreme positions, even when, as we discussed last week, that child has already been born.

But beyond that some states are now flexing their murderous muscles to keep women with crisis pregnancies from receiving assistance by those whose only concern is for the well-being of the woman and her child.

Angry state actors are following the suggestion of pro-abortion politicians, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass), who are arguing that all pregnancy resource centers that provide assistance to women which would allow them to carry their child to term are frauds and should be banned or restricted.

Last June after the draft of the Dobbs decision was leaked, the New York legislature passed a measure that allows government officials to examine internal documents of these pregnancy centers, including the files of individual women who are seeking their help. That bill was signed into law by New York’s unintended Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, who, at the signing ceremony, called pro-life supporters “Neanderthals.”

Now if the governor thought that by signing the bill, state agents would be able to walk into pregnancy centers and flip through their files, taking the files of women who were expecting safety and protection, a group of Catholic nuns, the Sisters for Life, aided by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, are putting to lie Hochul’s dream world of crushing these centers, the people who support them, and the women they help.

They gave the All-American response, they sued the b*. In filing the suit, Becket said of the legislation: “The state government is clearly targeting the religious viewpoints of the Sisters of Life and violating the First Amendment protections granted to the Sisters.” 

The Sisters themselves were founded in 1991 by John Cardinal O’Connor, at the time archbishop of New York. The sisters pledge their lives to God when entering the order by professing vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. They also vow to protect the sacredness of human life at every stage.

Based in New York, the Sisters are a group of religious women who carry out this mission by caring for pregnant women and their unborn children. They provide pregnant women with housing, maternity clothes, baby formula, and other supplies for well after birth. They also connect pregnant women and their children to pro bono medical and legal services and a wide array of social services.

According to the lawsuit filed on their behalf:

 “The Act directs the Commissioner [of Health] to conduct a study and issue a report about ‘limited services pregnancy centers,’ defined as any facility or entity that has the ‘primary purpose of…provid[ing] services to clients who are or may be pregnant,’ that is not a licensed health-care facility or is not providing services under the direction of a licensed health-care provider, and that ‘fails to provide or refer for the full range of comprehensive reproductive and sexual health care services (emphasis added). . . .

“The Act then provides that the Commissioner ‘may request, and shall receive upon request,’ a broad range of data and information from limited services pregnancy centers. That includes information related to organizational funding; membership in umbrella organizations; services provided and most frequently sought; the number of women who access services and ‘basic demographic information about each woman, including race, age, and marital status’; whether women seeking services are seeking ‘comprehensive options counseling or services’ at medical facilities; the nature of information given to clients or potential clients; and operational manuals, handbooks, or guidelines.

“All of the Act’s intrusive and burdensome disclosure requirements turn on whether an organization is willing to ‘refer for . . . abortion care.’ That definitional trigger is plainly predicated on the content of an organization’s speech; it is also plainly unconstitutional [Cites omitted].”

Before filing suit, the Sisters tried to get some assurance from the state that it would not use the Act against them or take any enforcement action against them. On July 15 the Sisters sent a letter to the state Commissioner of Health. In that letter the Sisters described their religious ministry and explained how the Act violated the United States Constitution.

They asked the Commissioner to respond by August 1, assuring them that the commission would not act against them. There was no reply.

On August 23 the Sisters sent a second letter which reiterated that the Act violated the Constitution and illegally interfered with their religious ministry and requested a response by August 26. On August 30 the Sisters received the commission’s response:

“Thank you for contacting us regarding [the Act] which authorizes the New York State Commissioner of Health to request and receive broad categories of internal information and data from ‘limited services pregnancy centers.’ We are reviewing the enacted legislation and determining appropriate next steps for implementation.”

Shortly after receipt of that letter the Sisters filed a federal lawsuit seeking protection from the state. In the suit the Sisters claim eight constitutional violations, among them: violations of the Free Speech, Free Exercise, and Establishment Clauses of the Constitution.

The Sisters, among other things, request the following:

“a. Declare that the Act violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution by discriminating against the Sisters of Life based on the content and viewpoint of their speech;

“b. Declare that the Act violates the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment by violating the autonomy of the Sisters of Life to make decisions regarding faith, doctrine, and internal governance free from governmental interference;

“c. Declare that the Act violates the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution by subjecting the Sisters to invasive and burdensome disclosure requirements without a warrant and without any individualized suspicion of wrongdoing; and

“d. Declare the Act unconstitutional both on its face and as applied to the Sisters and issue a permanent injunction prohibiting the state or its agents and all those acting in concert with them, from enforcing the Act.”

And, of course, attorney fees.

Since the suit was just filed, there is little to report except that the Sisters will probably be asking for a temporary injunction to protect them during its pendency. We’ll track the case and keep you posted of any updates.

The anti-baby crowd apparently will stop at nothing. Remember, these are the people from the far left who do not believe in a “live and let live” philosophy. To them it is win at all costs and force their beliefs on the rest of us. So don’t be surprised that if they lose this suit, they will come back with something else. The left never rests; neither should we.

(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him every Thursday on Faith On Trial at https://iowacatholicradio.com/faith-on-trial).