A new Los Angeles city ordinance would punish pro-life pregnancy centers with $10,000 fines and subject them to lawsuits for “misleading advertising.”
The Los Angeles Times reports the city council approved the ordinance Tuesday in a unanimous 11-0 vote. It went into effect immediately.
Although the legislation does not specifically mention pro-life pregnancy centers, City Attorney Mike Feuer admitted the purpose is to crack down on nonprofits that oppose abortion. At the meeting Tuesday, he mentioned that there are at least five in the city, according to the report.
In the ordinance, which Feuer sponsored, it accuses pregnancy centers of using false advertising to prey on vulnerable, abortion-minded women in stressful situations and delay them from seeking “time sensitive” abortions or prenatal care.
“We all know that women confronting this difficult, sensitive, personal question, they have not a second to lose — every moment counts,” Feuer said.
California already has a law prohibiting false advertising, but the ordinance claims the legislation is “inadequate.”
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Here’s more from the report:
The law, introduced by City Atty. Mike Feuer, allows the city to fine a pregnancy center up to $10,000 if it is caught falsely advertising the services it provides, such as prenatal care, abortions or emergency contraceptives. Individuals who are misled by these centers can sue and seek damages under the new law, which takes effect immediately via an urgency clause. …
Some crisis pregnancy centers have been known to attract women who are seeking an abortion, and are instead met with efforts to dissuade them from terminating their pregnancies, Feuer said during Tuesday’s council meeting.
The ordinance also accuses “some” pregnancy centers of using “false or misleading advertising to attract women contemplating terminating a pregnancy into believing that the center offers such services, even though it is not the center’s business to” provide or refer for an abortion.
Potentially, the city could face lawsuits. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down another California law that similarly targeted pro-life pregnancy centers by requiring them to post notices advertising abortions.
Pro-life pregnancy centers have become a target of the pro-abortion movement because they are effective in stopping unborn babies from abortions and helping families in need. The LA Times report referred to a study from the University of North Carolina that found almost 30 percent of women who visited a pregnancy center were less likely to abort their unborn babies.
Their free, compassionate outreach to mothers in need also takes money away from the billion-dollar abortion industry. According to an analysis by the Charlotte Lozier Institute, pregnancy resource centers have helped save more than 800,000 unborn babies from abortion since 2016. The research found U.S. pregnancy resource centers served about 2 million people in 2019, providing more than 730,000 pregnancy tests, nearly half a million ultrasounds, 1.3 million packs of diapers and more than 2 million baby outfits, all for free.
ACTION ALERT: Contact the Los Angeles City Council to complain about the new law.
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