New Jersey’s War Against a Pro-Life Organization
The Left has not gone away.
Is the state of New Jersey openly persecuting a pro-life organization?
On Dec. 10, 2024, attorneys from the pro-life, Christian law firm Alliance Defending Freedom put forward oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in its First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin.
The ADF originally filed the lawsuit on behalf of First Choice Women’s Resource Centers on Dec. 13. 2023. First Choice Women’s Resource is a Christian pro-life organization that has been providing services to pregnant women since 1985. First Choice has five locations in New Jersey and provides pro-bono services.
The genesis of this dispute goes back to February 2022, when New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) appointed Matthew Platkin to serve as attorney general. Similar to Murphy, Platkin is a staunch supporter of abortion. Like most pro-abortion politicians, Platkin was incensed by the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
He described the 2022 Supreme Court decision as an “extreme right-wing decision” and a “devastating setback for women’s rights in America. As a faithful of executor of the pro-abortion agenda, Platkin implemented a $5 million grant program to fund abortion training and expand the number of abortion providers operating in New Jersey. The New Jersey Attorney General has also manifested his hostility toward pro-life groups. He has described pro-life organizations as “extremists attempting to stop those from seeking reproductive healthcare that they need.”
Tensions came to a head when Platkin’s office issued a statewide “consumer alert” asserting that pro-life pregnancy centers such as First Choice “provide false or misleading information,” without providing any concrete evidence to back such a claim. Further, he asked Planned Parenthood to help him write it.
In November 2023, Platkin issued a subpoena to First Choice, demanding the pro-life organization turn over 10 years’ worth of documentation, information sent to clients and donors, documents identifying staff, copies of all of First Choice’s advertisements, and information dealing with outside organizations it has collaborated with.
Owing to the lack of evidence of First Choice engaging in foul play or violating New Jersey law, Platkins’ subpoena can largely be perceived as an attack against First Choice due to its religious and pro-life views.
Like many organizations during the COVID-19 era, First Choice struggle maintain a full staff. Even to this day, it has trouble keeping the lights on. Had it fully complied with Platkin’s burdensome subpoena, the pro-life organization would have been unable to carry out its mission of assisting pregnant women. First Choice argued that such a compliance effort would have required several members of its staff to produce all the documents the AG’s office demanded.
The name of the game is here to tie up all of First Choice’s resources in arbitrary compliance and litigation, thereby leading to its inevitable closure as legal fees mount and countless manhours are expended in complying with the AG office’s demands.
Another insidious facet of this subpoena was the demand for First Choice to provide a list of its donors. First Choice has kept its donors anonymous because many of its donors make contributions for personal, ideological, or religious reasons. Should the identity of these donors be open to the public, this could leave many of these individuals open to potential reprisals from unhinged political activists with an ax to grind.
First Choice would respond the month after the subpoena was issued by teaming up with ADF to file a lawsuit against Platkin. The lawsuit argues that the Attorney General’s demands are in violation of the 1st and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution.
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First Choice is clearly being targeted for its pro-life views. Since the landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization Supreme Court decision which overturned Roe vs. Wade, blue states have gone out of their way to ensure their state laws remain as pro-choice as possible. Blue states like New Jersey have pushed the envelope by trying to muzzle pro-life organizations such as First Choice. These states don’t want any meaningful forms of right-wing advocacy to take place.
“New Jersey’s attorney general is targeting and harassing First Choice Women’s Resource Centers—a ministry that provides free ultrasounds, STD testing, baby clothes, and more to its community—because of its pro-life views,” complained ADF Senior Counsel Lincoln Wilson prior to the hearing.
Wilson stressed First Choice was engaging in constitutionally protected activity, detailing: “The U.S. Constitution protects First Choice and its donors from unjustified demands for their identities and from government threats that attempt to shut down their speech because of its viewpoint.”
“The First Amendment protects First Choice’s right to freely speak about its beliefs, exercise its faith, associate with like-minded individuals and organizations, and continue to provide its free services in a caring and compassionate environment to people facing difficult pregnancy circumstances. The district court in this case erred by depriving First Choice of its opportunity to present its constitutional claims in federal court. We are urging the 3rd Circuit to uphold the constitutional rights of First Choice, protect its donors, and end this unlawful harassment,” Wilson concluded.
One curious detail about this case is how Platkin is New Jersey’s first Jewish attorney general. Since assuming the position in 2022, Platkin has used state resources to combat acts of antisemitism allegedly taking place in the Garden State. His efforts have only accelerated since Hamas’ attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Since then, Platkin has attended multiple events emphasizing the state government’s commitment to working with Jewish communities to curtail incidents of antisemitism.
Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Sundeep Iyer, Director of the Division on Civil Rights, event published a joint statement on Oct. 27, 2023 dealing with the alleged rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia in K-12 schools and universities. “Now more than ever,” they proclaimed, “it is critical that our educational institutions respond immediately — and in a manner consistent with their legal obligations — when bias incidents occur.”
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Given his ethno-religious background, Platkin is likely targeting First Choice as a way to consolidate the power of organized Jewry. Pro-abortion organizations are notorious for their Jewish overrepresentation, notably among the ranks of their leadership. Moreover, American Jews are staunch supporters of abortion. According to a 2015 Pew poll, 83% of Jews in the United States support abortion in most, if not all cases.
Jews have been major boosters of mass migration as well. Their aim is to demographically displace the U.S.’s white population and create a Tower of Babel environment where white political power is diluted and hamstrung. Advocating for abortion only accelerates the demise of the United States’ foundational white European population, making it much easier for organized Jewry to demographically transform the United States.
First Choice’s legal ordeal is no isolated incident, but rather a concerted effort by the Judeo-Left to undermine the political power of the United States’ white Christian population. By trying to muzzle First Choice, these nefarious forces are trying to establish a precedent of destroying free speech that could be replicated in other states and other causes spanning the right to life to the right to bear arms.
Should New Jersey’s persecution of First Choice end in success, one can expect leftist governments and activists to ramp up their attacks against white Christians nationwide.
These people won’t stop until all meaningful forms of opposition are silenced.
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