Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Centers Sue Vermont Over Advertising Law

A Vermont law that restricts advertising by anti-abortion pregnancy centers violates the free speech rights of facilities that oppose abortion, a new federal court suit says.

The provision known as SB 37 unlawfully discriminates by imposing content-based restrictions on only “limited-services pregnancy centers,” the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates says in a complaint filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the District of Vermont. The restrictions don’t further a compelling state interest and aren’t narrowly tailored, it says.

The group and co-plaintiffs Aspire Together Inc. and Branches Pregnancy Resource Center Inc. asked the court to declare the ...