Americans United for Life supports legal challenge to sign law

Americans United for Life, a national pro-life group based in Washington, is offering support to pro-life pregnancy centers in an ongoing legal battle over a Baltimore law mandating the posting of signs at the centers.

AUL filed an amicus curiae or “friend of the court” brief June 7 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, seeking to provide testimony in an upcoming case pitting the Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns against the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore.

Baltimore passed a law in 2009 mandating that pro-life pregnancy centers post signs stating that they do not provide abortion or birth control. Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien spoke out strongly against the measure, taking legal action against the city.

U.S. District Court Judge Marvin J. Garbis ruled Jan. 28 in Baltimore that it is unconstitutional to require pro-life pregnancy centers to post signs with language mandated by the government. The ruling was appealed and is now making its way up the courts.

“The ordinance in the Baltimore case tries to undermine the work of pregnancy care centers by forcing the posting of messages about abortions in the facilities,” said AUL president and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest.

“Apparently, the abortion lobby feels threatened by the loving care available to mothers in pregnancy care centers,” Yoest said, “and is trying to brand the centers with a ‘Scarlet Letter,’ disparaging the message of loving alternatives to abortion.”