Attorneys for a pro-life pregnancy center in Wilmington, Delaware, and a network of affiliated centers, have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a state law set to take effect in March.

A Door of Hope, located in Wilmington, is one of four pregnancy centers in Delaware that are members of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA). Together, A Door of Hope and NIFLA are suing Delaware’s attorney general, Kathy Jennings, over the law.

“Delaware’s law is unconstitutional, pure and simple,” said William R. Thetford, senior associate with the Simms Showers law firm. “It is a classic example of the government compelling speech to punish those who hold differing viewpoints.” Thetford serves as lead counsel in the case. Simms Showers, along with Alliance Defending Freedom, represents the pro-life pregnancy centers in the suit.

Delaware’s Senate Bill 300 imposes government-compelled speech upon the pregnancy care centers by requiring them to post disclaimers within their facilities and in all their advertising materials that they do not have a licensed medical provider on staff directly supervising the provision of services. In the lawsuit, the attorneys explain how such a disclaimer is burdensome, misleading, and would limit the centers’ digital advertising options, thus impeding their freedom of speech.

A press release from Alliance Defending Freedom points out that state officials are requiring the disclaimers to be posted solely because the centers serve pregnant women from a pro-life perspective, and not with any prerequisite that the center has engaged in any improper behavior. The law compels the content of speech and, in practice, regulates only speakers who wish to discuss the subject of pregnancy from a pro-life viewpoint rather than any other health topic.

“Delaware clearly crossed the line when it passed, and the governor signed, SB 300,” said Anne O’Connor, vice president of legal affairs at NIFLA. O’Connor added that the law “copies a government-compelled notice in pregnancy center ads that was struck down in NIFLA v. Becerra in 2018 by the U.S. Supreme Court, delivering a huge win for pregnancy centers and free speech.”

“SB 300 is clearly unconstitutional as it destroys the free speech of pregnancy centers solely because they are pro-life and help women who are facing unplanned pregnancies,” O’Connor continued. “Instead of shutting down the free speech of places where women can obtain free, non-judgmental assistance, Delaware should be putting effort into how they can support these women and all the good that pregnancy centers do for the state and its residents.”

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