High court rules for faith-based pregnancy centers

The Supreme Court on Tuesday blocked enforcement of a California law that requires faith-based crisis pregnancy centers to notify patients that the state offers subsidized medical care, including abortions.

By a 5-4 vote, the justices said the disclosure rule likely amounts to compelled speech that violates the First Amendment. The court did not strike down the California law, but sent the case back to lower courts with instructions that enforcement of key provisions be immediately blocked while the legal challenge continues.

California lawmakers passed the law three years ago, forcing the pregnancy centers, which strongly oppose abortion, to notify women that the procedure is an option for them. The state had been concerned that some of the more than 200 centers used deceptive advertising and counseling practices to confuse or intimidate women.

The law also requires centers to advise women if they do not have a licensed medical professional on staff.

A federal judge and the 9th Circuit Court had refused to block the state’s disclosure law on the grounds it could regulate “professional speech” to protect patients and customers from misleading or deceptive marketing.

But Justice Clarence Thomas said the centers are “likely to succeed” on their First Amendment challenge against the law. He was joined by four other conservatives in the case of National Institute of Family and Life Advocates vs. Becerra.

A Georgia State Patrol trooper quickly put out the fire with extinguisher, and the man was transported to a hospital, Mcdonough said. About 85 percent to 90 percent of the man’s body has been burned, according to local reports. Authorities did not identify the man or provide details on why he was unhappy with VA but said he was able to speak during transport.

The Atlanta Journalconstitution reports the man parked his Nissan Sentra on side of the Capitol after 10:30 a.m., walked toward the west entrance of the building and lit himself on fire.

The man “doused himself with some kind of flammable liquid,” GSP spokesman Mark Perry said.

Perry told reporters the vet did not indicate he had additional explosives but officials chose to check the area “out of an abundance of caution.” Rep. Maxine Waters, D-calif., questions witnesses during a hearing in Washington in 2017.

spotlight on Rep. Maxine Waters, a veteran Democratic lawmaker whose call for aggressive protests of administration officials prompted rebukes from members of both parties.

In a morning tweet, Trump said that the California congresswoman is now “the face of the Democrats” and that Waters and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-calif., make a “fine leadership team.”

“They should always stay together and lead the Democrats, who want Open Borders and Unlimited Crime, well into the future .... and pick Crooked Hillary for Pres,”

Trump wrote, referring to Hillary Clinton.

Trump’s campaign also made a mention of Waters later Tuesday in a fundraising email to supporters under the subject line “Harassment.”

Trump’s tweet was an attempt to leverage more political advantage from a Los Angeles rally over the weekend at which Waters told supporters, “If you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them!”

– Appeal-democrat news services