Pro-life activists in Connecticut say the fact that a bill intended to place faith-based pregnancy care centers under the thumb of the state attorney general died in the State Senate this week is miraculous.
Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut (FIC), said in a statement sent to Breitbart News, the “Anti-Pregnancy Center” bill (HB 7070) “was defeated because pro-lifers rose up in deep blue Connecticut and fought back.”
Wolfgang also told CT Mirror the death of the bill in the State Senate after it passed the House – with Democrat majorities in each chamber – was “an act of God.”
The bill, introduced by Democrats and lobbied for by abortion industry advocates such as NARAL, made the claim pro-life pregnancy centers engage in “deceptive advertising practices” that lure women into believing they offer abortions.
According to CT Mirror, a pregnancy care center’s website that displayed the words, “Thinking about abortion?” was considered “deceptive” because abortion proponents claimed the center was implying it could deliver medical advice.
“We successfully showed even pro-choice politicians that this was a radical bill that unconstitutionally discriminated against pro-lifers because of our political viewpoint,” Wolfgang told Breitbart News. “The bill’s defeat is a humiliating blow to NARAL’s Connecticut chapter, which lost even politicians it had helped to elect.”
The measure was the first abortion-related piece of legislation to pass a chamber of the Connecticut General Assembly in several decades.
Democrat State Rep. Jillian Gilchrest supported the measure to control the faith-based centers and expressed her disappointment that the bill failed:
As Connecticut Democrats moved ahead with the legislation, pro-life ministry Caring Families Pregnancy Services filed a lawsuit against the city of Hartford to stop enforcement of the city’s ordinance that compels pro-life ministries to post signs stating, “This facility does not have a licensed medical provider on site to provide or supervise all services.”
The complaint, filed by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), noted the ministry offers many services and faith supports that “do not require supervision by a licensed medical provider.”
“The ordinance is similar to portions of a California law that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down last year in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra,” ADF said in a press statement.
“National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) is grateful that the Connecticut State Senate did not pass the clearly unconstitutional HB 7070,” said the non-profit legal firm’s founder and president Thomas Glessner in a statement. “Mothers facing unexpected pregnancies should have a safe haven to review all of their options rather than a place that profits from their choices.”
Wolfgang told Breitbart News in May that State House Democrats reacted to the lawsuit against the city of Hartford “by saying they want the legislature to pass the same law in the hope that the State of Connecticut will be sued too.”
“Other jurisdictions have had to pay huge fines to pregnancy centers after losing similar cases but the House leadership does not care,” he added. “With leadership like this, it’s no wonder our state is a fiscal disaster.”
Anne O’Connor, NIFLA vice president of legal affairs, said the failure of the bill to move ahead in the Connecticut Senate is a “win” for “the women of Connecticut” as well.
“NIFLA will continue to oppose all legislation that seeks to target pro-life pregnancy centers and the professionals who serve them because of their deeply held beliefs,” O’Connor added. “All states should consider the potential costs of such pro-abortion policies rather than force taxpayers to pay thousands or even millions of dollars to defend unconstitutional bills on behalf of the abortion industry.”
The Connecticut pro-life activists’ victory came on the heels of the defeat of an assisted suicide bill that failed to make it out of committee in April.