PLLDF HELPS FILE ANOTHER IMPORTANT AMICI CURIAE BRIEF WITH THE U.S. SUPREME COURT

On March 20, 2018 the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) will hear oral arguments in the case of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, d/b/a NIFLA, et al. v. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, et. al.. PLLDF has provided valuable support to the efforts of nine Harvard Law students who gave up valuable study and vacation time to help the Court reach a just result in this case. Under the able leadership of Professors Dwight G. Duncan and Mary Ann Glendon, an excellent “Brief of Amici Curiae” was submitted to SCOTUS.

PLLDF fully funded this important brief, prepared and presented on behalf of the Amici Curiae (i.e., “friends of the court”), which include PLLDF, two other pro-life organizations, and Eleanor McCullen, lead plaintiff in the unanimous SCOTUS landmark pro-life victory in the case of McCullen v. Coakley, 134 S. Ct. 2518 (2014).

Clarity, insight, and precision of expression are the hallmarks of this brief. Persuasively and succinctly, the brief explains why the constitutional free speech test of “strict scrutiny” should be applied to the California Reproductive FACT Act, which imposes burdensome limitations on pro-life speech. PLLDF wants pro-lifers to be free to speak!

Significantly, SCOTUS cited language from PLLDF’s brief two times in its 2014 ground-breaking decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., which upheld the right under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to refuse to provide abortifacient contraceptives when such techniques of birth control violate the Christian beliefs of the owners of a closely-held, family-run business for profit.

Hopefully, SCOTUS will find the arguments set forth in this Amici Curiae brief helpful to its deliberations, and issue a decision which will protect human life.

Here is a LINK to the brief.