The federal government has joined 19 states and several nationwide religious liberty organizations to support a pro-life Christian ministry in New Jersey ahead of an expected showdown against the state before the U.S. Supreme Court this fall.

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The United States and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined an amicus brief led by Missouri in the case First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin, which centers on an investigation by New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin into First Choice.

The firm provides counseling, medical services, diapers and other assistance to over 36,000 women across New Jersey facing unplanned pregnancies. The suit alleges that Platkin violated the ministry’s First Amendment rights by targeting its religious and pro-life mission without evidence of wrongdoing.

Calling it a “simple case” based on “bedrock principles” of federal law, the brief from the U.S. Department of Justice mirrored a similar filing from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which warned of an “exploding” rise in politically motivated investigations by state officials.

In December 2023, Platkin was one of 16 Democratic state attorneys general to sign on to a letter accusing pro-life pregnancy centers of engaging in “misinformation and harm” by “misleading consumers and delaying access to critical, time-sensitive reproductive healthcare.” The prior month, Platkin subpoenaed the petitioners, demanding that they produce several documents within one month, which included a list of donations made to the group and other confidential information. The subpoena did not name any alleged legal violations, but cited state statutes that prohibit “deceptive commercial practices.”

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a religious freedom legal nonprofit representing First Choice, filed a suit in December 2023 to challenge the investigation in federal court, but lower courts ruled the claims must first be pursued in state court. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the fall.

The lower courts ruled that the subpoena is “non-self-enforcing” and there is no penalty for refusal to comply until a state court orders enforcement. But petitioners and their supporters have questioned whether the lower courts correctly interpreted state law.

“There are many recent examples of governments ordering disfavored groups to divulge their confidential internal materials, without regard to the severe and obvious chilling effects on speech and association that these demands create,” the Chamber of Commerce filing reads. “The First Amendment guards against ‘use of the power to investigate enforced by the contempt power to probe at will and without relation to existing need.'”

In their filing, 19 states joined an amicus brief led by Missouri in support of First Choice, arguing that Platkin’s investigation infringes on First Amendment rights and that federal courts have jurisdiction to weigh in on such claims.

“New Jersey Attorney General’s subpoena violates the First Amendment,” the states’ attorneys general wrote. “He has handed the keys to his office over to Planned Parenthood, an organization that has waged a relentless campaign to intimidate and silence PRCs for nearly 40 years. [First Choice] and its donors have every reason to fear the consequences of disclosure.”

The Becket Fund, a religious liberty legal organization, argues the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from “trolling through” nonprofits’ “religious-mission decisions.” The group contends that the attorney general’s actions threaten the ministry’s “life-affirming work.”

“Self-government requires respect for the independence of religious institutions, not subjecting their religious decisions to state scrutiny,” Becket Senior Counsel William Haun said in a statement, urging the nation’s highest court to end “New Jersey’s unnecessary and unconstitutional intrusion.”

Heartbeat International, the largest international network of pregnancy help organizations, contends that Platkin’s subpoena, which names Heartbeat and Care Net, chills free speech and association.

“The subpoena’s sweep does not merely burden groups within the Attorney General’s statewide jurisdiction but also throws a pall on speech and expressive association nationwide,” Heartbeat’s Aug. 28 brief states.

Americans United for Life argues that the ruling against First Choice from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals “relied on judge-made reasons, not constitutional ones, to dismiss the case.”

“Yet the subpoena is clearly unconstitutional under Supreme Court precedent; it chilled First Choice’s fundamental rights to speak and associate to further its pro-life mission to serve pregnant women and their families,” said Carolyn McDonnell, AUL’s litigation counsel.

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This article was originally published at The Christian Post. Photo Credit: Zolnierek/Getty Images via Canva Teams.