How Our Supreme Court Case Defending Pregnancy Centers Could Affect the Church

Last week, Alliance Defending Freedom stood before the Supreme Court on behalf of our ally the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) and its affiliated pregnancy centers in California. A California state law forces these pregnancy centers to advertise for the abortion industry.

But how does this apply to the Church?

Churches across the country have programs and ministries that reach out to the community and serve their community members. That is part of what we are called to do as Christians.

Churches do this is many different ways. Some churches run homeless shelters or food pantries. Some operate shelters for victims of domestic violence or adoption agencies.

And some run pregnancy centers.

In fact, we are representing a church that runs a pregnancy center in Hawaii, where a law similar to California’s forces pro-life pregnancy centers to advertise for abortion. If the Supreme Court upholds California’s law, that means the Hawaii pregnancy center and the church that runs it could also be forced to advertise for abortion – or shut down the pregnancy center altogether.

There are countless ways that the government can attack the church and attempt to silence or censor its message, or even force churches to promote a message that violates their beliefs.

This all begs an important question: If the government makes it harder for churches to run community outreach programs and ministries, what will we do? Will we retreat behind the doors of our church buildings?

These are questions the Church needs to address now. And ADF can help.

That’s why ADF created the Church & Ministry Alliance, a membership program that exists to provide legal counsel and resources to ensure that churches and ministries are free to operate, teach, and serve, consistent with God's call.

Visit the ADF Church & Ministry Alliance website to learn more about how your church or ministry can become a member.