Dear Friends in Christ,

As Bishop Anderson noted in his article today, there are times when grassroots efforts and perseverance can bear Godly and hope-filled fruit even in our courts.  So I am happy to report today an opinion from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Eastern Division) recognizing a constitutional right specifically for a woman to choose life rather than abortion.

The facts of The Life Center, Inc. vs. City of Elgin, Illinois (No. 13 C 1759) are as follows.  Life Center, Inc is a faith based organization that contends that it operates TLC Pregnancy Services (TLC) which in turn provides faith-based spiritual support, free reproductive healthcare information and limited ultrasound services for pregnant women.  In September 2010, TLC began providing services from a mobile facility in a recreational vehicle (Mobile Facility) that TLC parked in a couple of commercial lots located in the City of Elgin with the permission of the owners of such parking lots.

Life Center contends that “TLC’s volunteers aboard the [M]obile [F]acility provide a message of hope by sharing the truth of God’s love for them and the life they can find in and through Jesus Christ.” (Compl. Par. 13). According to Life Center, TLC’s patients consist mainly of young women without financial and emotional support. Life Center contends that unlike the services at a permanent facility, the Mobile Facility’s services are particularly visible and accessible to women, and that the Mobile Facility provides a level of anonymity to women who may be unable or unwilling to go to a permanent facility. Life Center explains that the ultrasound services provide pregnant women with information that could identify health issues and potentially save the lives of their unborn children.

According to Life Center, the City consistently approved temporary use permits for TLC to operate in parking lots in the City until August 7, 2012, when a City employee approached the Mobile Facility and told TLC to cease operations. The City informed TLC that, based on a recent amendment to the Elgin Municipal Code relating to temporary uses TLC could obtain permits for the Mobile Facility only for a limited number of days each year. There are allegations in the complaint against the City that the enforcement against Life Center was triggered by a city councilperson.  The City also informed TLC that it had already used its permitted time for 2012.

So Life Center sued the City of Elgin for violating the constitutional rights of pregnant women to choose life based on the revisions to a municipal code that were suspect – they were vague, “overbroad” and specifically intended to target faith based organizations like Life Center/TLC  seeking to help women choose life rather than abortion.  In addition to challenging the City’s amendment of its Temporary Use Codes on the grounds that they violated Life Center’s/TLC’s free speech and free exercise of Religion, TLC also took the bold step of challenging the City on the grounds that these revisions to the temporary use codes “violate a woman’s right to acquire useful knowledge and care for her unborn child (Count II)” and “an unborn child’s fundamental right to begin life with a sound mind and body (Count III).”

Did you catch that:  A faith-based organization is seeking to reverse the mindset of a culture of death by declaring that there is a constitutional right of a woman to have knowledge and counsel that will enable her to choose life rather than abortion… and a constitutional right for an unborn child “to begin life with a sound mind and body.”!

The court agreed.  Writing in a memorandum Opinion dated August 8, 2013, Judge Der-Yeghiayan found:

“Although the City claims it is merely applying the Temporary Use Provision with a blind eye toward the activities that impacts, it must be recognized that the City is preventing Life Center from being able to effectively provide pregnant women in the City with that needed medical care that could identify medical issues and save the lives of unborn children. P.13

Based on the above facts and the uncontested evidence provided by Life Center, the motives in amending the Code in 2012 are highly suspect and the City appears to have been targeting life Center. The City’s Code is unduly burdensome to the right of a woman to choose life. The City’s efforts to curtail private entities from providing free invaluable services to its young women is ill advised. It is puzzling why the City would be so unreasonable in implementing ordinances and policies that curtail not only the constitutional rights of its citizens, but also the availability of needed medical care and emotional support for its vulnerable young women.” P.14

You can find the full text of the Opinion here.

Kudos to the Christian law firm of Mauck & Baker (Chicago, IL) for their advocacy on behalf of Life Center/TLC.  As partner Richard Baker wrote to me, “We are not aware of any other case finding a constitutional right specifically for a woman to choose life. We are also pleased that the judge recognized that many young women are vulnerable and that pro-life organizations are providing needed medical care and emotional support to these vulnerable young women. Indeed there is much to celebrate in this decision in that the pro-life movement has been the underdog since 1973. We have everything to gain and they have everything to lose by opinions like this that challenge the status quo.”

The Apostle Paul says much the same in Galatians 6:9:  “Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Let’s carry on this good fight wherever our culture chooses values and ways that are contrary to God’s high hopes for us.  Let’s carry on this good fight where our churches and other institutions compromise and fall short of the horizon of Kingdom life.  Let’s carry on this good fight through the power of the Holy Spirit, the virtues of faith, hope and love, and the transforming power of Jesus Christ and his word!

Yours in Christ,
Phil+

The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey
Chief Operating and Development Officer, American Anglican Council