Judge Upholds S.F. Ordinance Barring Crisis Pregnancy Centers From Using False Advertising

On Friday, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit challenging a 2011 San Francisco ordinance (Ordinance 212-11) that bars antiabortion-rights crisis pregnancy centers from using misleading or false advertising. The ordinance applies to limited-services pregnancy centers that do not offer emergency contraception or abortion services or provide referrals to providers that do. The measures prohibits such facilities from using advertising that "mislead[s] women contemplating abortion into believing that their facilities offer abortion services and unbiased counseling." U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong in the ruling wrote that the city ordinance "only restricts false and misleading commercial speech, which is not protected by the First Amendment."

• "Limits Upheld on Ads by Antiabortion Pregnancy Clinics" (Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 2/23).