Supreme Court rules 9-0 NJ pregnancy centers can challenge donor subpoena in federal court

In First Choice Women's Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin, the Supreme Court unanimously rules that a network of five faith-based pregnancy centers in New Jersey can bring their First Amendment challenge to a state attorney general subpoena in federal court. Justice Neil Gorsuch writes for all nine justices. New Jersey AG Matthew Platkin subpoenaed First Choice in November 2023 through a "Reproductive Rights Strike Force" he created in 2022, demanding names, phone numbers, addresses, and employers of donors and up to 10 years of internal documents. The state acknowledged it had received no complaints against First Choice. Lower courts dismissed the challenge as unripe. Gorsuch writes that a government demand for private donor information itself creates a First Amendment injury — chilling associational rights — giving First Choice standing to sue immediately in federal court. The ruling cites NAACP v. Alabama (1958). It does not decide the underlying merits; the case returns to district court. The ACLU of New Jersey, which sided with the pregnancy centers on First Amendment grounds, praised the outcome.