FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE
January 5, 2018
For More Information, contact:
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Steve Marshall
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
Alabama Attorney General
AG STEVE MARSHALL ANNOUNCES FEDERAL COURT VICTORY
TO PROTECT RELIGIOUS PRO-LIFE SPEECH
(MONTGOMERY) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall applauded a federal
appeals court decision today as a victory to protect religious pro-life speech.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of an argument made by
Attorney General Marshall and nine other Attorneys General that a Baltimore city ordinance
unconstitutionally undermined a pregnancy center’s ability to speak about and offer
alternatives to abortion.
“It is unlawful, and simply wrong, for the government to force private
organizations to post a message about abortion and birth control services that violates
their moral convictions and interferes with their mission to provide aid to women in a
manner consistent with their own religious beliefs and concerns,” said Attorney
General Marshall.
The coalition of Attorneys General, in supporting the Greater Baltimore Center for
Pregnancy Concerns, argued that the city ordinance unlawfully required it and other centers to
post signs informing clients that the facility does not provide or refer for abortions.
The Attorneys General argued the ordinance uses consumer protection as cover to
violate the First Amendment. It does so in targeting the non-commercial speech of charitable
organizations who wish to communicate sincerely-held religious beliefs about abortion.
The Court agreed, writing that Baltimore’s requirement forces “a politically and
religiously motivated group to convey a message fundamentally at odds with its core beliefs
and mission.”
Alabama joined the brief in April of 2017, along with West Virginia, Arkansas, Kansas,
Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.
A combined copy of the Court’s opinion and the coalition’s brief can be found at this
link.
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.state.al.us
