A Free Speech Victory: Delaware Halts Enforcement of Law Targeting Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers
In a pivotal development for First Amendment rights, the state of Delaware has agreed to permanently stop enforcing Senate Bill 300, a 2024 law that required pro-life pregnancy centers to post disclaimers stating they lack licensed medical professionals on staff . The agreement, secured in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, came after the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) and A Door of Hope Pregnancy Center filed a federal lawsuit challenging the measure as unconstitutional . While Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings disagreed with the centers’ assertion that the law violated the First Amendment, she agreed to the permanent non-enforcement order.
The case drew strength from the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision in NIFLA v. Becerra, which struck down a nearly identical California law compelling pregnancy centers to post government-mandated messages . Attorneys from Simms Showers and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), who represented the pregnancy centers, argued that SB 300 unconstitutionally restricted free speech by forcing the centers to convey messages that undermined their mission . “Pregnancy centers are a force for good in Wilmington and the surrounding community, offering families true, life-affirming care,” said lead counsel William R. Thetford, adding that his clients can now “pursue that worthy mission unshackled by an inappropriate application of the law” . As part of the settlement, the state also agreed to pay $50,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.
