The Supreme Court dealt a blow to states’ ability to investigate anti-abortion pregnancy centers on April 29, 2026, with its ruling in favor of so-called “crisis pregnancy centers.” 

Anti-choice pregnancy centers are ideologically-based facilities masquerading as health clinics. In recent years, their conservative anti-choice backers have pushed a national strategy to exempt these centers from basic privacy and accountability regulations, like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), that health-care facilities must obey.

In First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Platkin, the justices were asked to rule on a narrow question: Should a federal or state court determine whether New Jersey may investigate “crisis pregnancy centers” for potentially misleading donors and engaging in unlicensed practices? 

New Jersey said its investigation into a statewide chain of “crisis pregnancy centers” called First Choice Women’s Resource Centers stems from concerns that the organization is misleading donors, offering unlicensed practices, violating patient privacy, and making false medical claims. First Choice has refused to comply with the state’s subpoena into its donor information. 

The organization and its lawyers appealed the state’s subpoena power to two federal courts, which dismissed the case. So they took it to the Supreme Court. Now, the justices have unanimously agreed that the “crisis pregnancy center” should have the chance to make its case in a federal court. 

The decision could weaken one of the last safeguards states can use to regulate “crisis pregnancy centers”—obtaining records to facilitate fraud investigations—by creating a new First Amendment objection to state subpoenas in those probes.

Anti-abortion centers exploit regulatory loopholes 

As a reproductive rights attorney and as a Texan who grew up driving past these centers daily while attending religious schools that supported their mission, I have been watching a trend for years: Anti-abortion centers are gaining more exceptions to state regulation. 

In Texas, anti-abortion centers are embedded in communities, often positioned near or next to legitimate clinics and frequently affiliated with churches. There are more than 200 across the state. 

Anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” are designed to appear as legitimate, trustworthy places for pregnant people to seek care. In practice, however, most are not medical facilities; the privacy and transparency standards that govern actual licensed........

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