Earlier this year, Delaware pregnancy centers won in court against the state over a law targeting pro-life centers and freedom of speech that harkened back to the landmark NIFLA v. Becerra case.
Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and its local affiliated law firm Simms Showers filed a federal lawsuit in February 2025 challenging the constitutionality of a Delaware state law that restricted pro-life pregnancy centers’ ability to freely communicate with clients and potential clients and forcing them to “speak messages that undermine their mission and mislead the public,” according to a statement issued by ADF.
The lawsuit, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Jennings, was filed on behalf of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) and A Door of Hope Pregnancy Center, and named Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings.
State officials agreed to a court order earlier this summer permanently prohibiting them from enforcing the law passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Matt Meyer in 2024. The law went into effect in 2025.
Delaware Senate Bill 300 required centers without a licensed medical provider to post disclaimers stating such as well as add disclaimers to marketing. Violations were treated as unlawful consumer protection practices under Delaware law - a regular tactic on the part of abortion state attorneys general.
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ADF said at the time the law “runs afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in NIFLA v. Becerra that struck down compelled statements in advertising.”
The 2018 Supreme Court NIFLA v. Becerra decision striking down California’s Reproductive FACT Act was a crucial victory for pregnancy help organizations, affirming their constitutional rights in the federal courts. Prior to the Supreme Court win, pregnancy help centers had lost twice in lower courts.
ADF praised the State of Delaware for agreeing to the court order permanently banning enforcement of the Delaware law.
“We applaud Delaware officials for allowing NIFLA and A Door of Hope to serve women and families free from government punishment,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “We’ve seen too many state attorneys general ramp up their efforts to silence, censor, and shut down pregnancy care centers across the country. We’re pleased these centers will be free to continue their life-saving service in the community.”
The disclaimers to be posted in pregnancy help facilities, advertisements and printed materials were to state that “they do not have a licensed medical provider on staff directly supervising” provided services. The lawsuit explained how the disclaimer “is false, burdensome, and limits the centers’ digital advertising options,” and therefore, impedes the centers’ freedom of speech and imposes “government-compelled speech” on pregnancy centers in the state.
“Clearly, state officials shouldn’t enforce unconstitutional laws, and that’s no less true in this case,” said Simms Showers Partner William Thetford, lead counsel for the pregnancy centers.
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“Pregnancy centers are a force for good in Wilmington and the surrounding community, offering families true, life-affirming care and resources during unplanned or unsupported pregnancies,” he said, “and now they can pursue that worthy mission unshackled by an inappropriate application of the law.”
Jennings’ office agreed to pay $50,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs as part of the settlement.
