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California to Pay $192K Settlement Fee Over Free Speech Case with Pro-Life Group
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) said on Tuesday that the state of California had settled a free speech case with a pro-life group by paying $192,706 in attorneys' costs.
After Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 743, which limits certain free speech activities when a speaker is within 30 feet of another person and that person is “in a public way or on a sidewalk area” and “within 100 feet of the entrance or exit of a vaccination site and is seeking to enter or exit a vaccination site,” the ADF filed a lawsuit on behalf of Right to Life of Central California.
The pro-life organization's ability to provide services to women in need on the public sidewalk and street outside its own building and its own parking lot was restricted by law, according to the ADF, because it is situated next to a Planned Parenthood abortion facility that provides the HPV vaccine, according to the lawsuit. According to the ADF, as part of the settlement, state officials consented to refrain from applying certain provisions of the statute against Right to Life or any speaker.
“Women facing unplanned pregnancies deserve to have full support and resources available to them when they choose life for their unborn children, yet the state of California unconstitutionally tried to silence the voices of those advocating on their behalf,” said ADF Senior Counsel Denise Harle.
“This is a significant victory not only for our client, Right to Life, but for every other speaker in California. The First Amendment protects every Californian, regardless of their viewpoint,” Harle continued. “Now Right to Life’s staff and volunteers can continue their critical mission of serving vulnerable women in the central California region with their free, life-giving services.”
Attorneys for ADF filed a stipulated dismissal of the case following the settlement.
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