First Resort, Inc. v. Dennis Herrera

860 F.3d 1263, 2017 WL 2766094, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 11408
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedJune 27, 2017
Docket15-15434
StatusPublished
Cited by43 cases

This text of 860 F.3d 1263 (First Resort, Inc. v. Dennis Herrera) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First Resort, Inc. v. Dennis Herrera, 860 F.3d 1263, 2017 WL 2766094, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 11408 (9th Cir. 2017).

Opinions

Concurrence by Judge TASHIMA

OPINION

NELSON, Senior Circuit Judge:

First Resort, Inc. (“First Resort”) challenges the constitutionality of San Francisco’s Pregnancy Information Disclosure and Protection Ordinance (“the Ordinance”), a law designed to protect indigent women facing unexpected pregnancies from the harms posed by false or misleading advertising by limited services pregnancy centers (“LSPCs”). S.F. Admin. Code, ch. 93 §§ 93.1-93.5. The district court granted in part Appellees’ (collectively, “the City”) motion to dismiss, denied First Resort’s motion for summary judgment, and granted Appellees’ cross-motion for summary judgment. First Resort now appeals those decisions. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. We affirm the district court and hold the Ordinance is constitutional and not preempted by state law.

BACKGROUND

1. First Resort

Until 2014, First Resort, an LSPC, operated a state-licensed community medical clinic and advertised its services in San [1268]*1268Francisco under the name “First Resort.” Since 2014, First Resort has operated its clinic under the names “Third Box” and “Support Circle.” As a non-profit corporation, First Resort provides free pregnancy-related services, including pregnancy testing, ultrasounds, and counseling. First Resort’s goal is “to build an abortion-free world,” and therefore it does not provide abortions or emergency contraception to its patients, nor does it refer its patients to other facilities for such services.

First Resort’s target clients are women who are unsure how to proceed with unplanned pregnancies, including women considering abortion. While operating its website under the name “First Resort,” the clinic utilized paid-for online advertising services, such as Google Adwords, to reach its intended audience. Upon searching for certain keywords such as “San Francisco,” “abortion,” and “emergency contraception,” internet users were directed to First Resort’s website. First Resort uses its online advertising to compete with abortion providers for viewers’ attention.

Although First Resort has a clear antiabortion agenda, the clinic advertised itself online as an unbiased and neutral organization that provided “abortion information, resources, and compassionate support for women” with “unintended pregnancies” who are “considering abortion.” The website further stated that First Resort “equip[s] [women] with the resources [they] need to make a well-informed decision about [their] options,” and offered information about abortion procedures and costs. Notably, the website and advertising materials did not mention First Resort’s anti-abortion stance or that it did not provide referrals for abortions.

2. False and Misleading Advertising by Clinics

False and misleading advertising by clinics that do not provide abortions, emergency contraception, or referrals to providers of such services has become a problem of national importance. This issue has been the subject of a congressional report and proposed federal legislation. See Minority Staff of H. Comm, on Gov’t Reform, Special Investigations Div., False & Misleading Health Information Provided by Federally Funded Pregnancy Resource Centers (July 2006) (the “Waxman Report”); Stop Deceptive Advertising for Women’s Services Act of 2013, S. 981, 113th Cong. (2013) (“A Bill [t]o direct the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe rules prohibiting deceptive advertising of abortion services.... ”). The congressional report found that certain pregnancy resource centers “frequently fail to provide medically accurate information” and that “the vast majority of pregnancy centers” contacted during the investigation misrepresented the medical consequences of abortion. Waxman Report at 14. The report further concluded that while “[t]his tactic may be effective in frightening pregnant teenagers and women and discouraging abortionf,]” it “denies [them] vital health information, prevents them from making an informed decision, and is not an accepted public health practice.” Id.

Local governments around the country, including in San Francisco, have also sought to curtail the deceptive practices of pregnancy service centers. On August 2, 2011, Supervisor Malia Cohen, a member of the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco (“the Board”), introduced legislation aimed at preventing such deceptive practices. That same day, the City Attorney sent First Resort a letter expressing his “serious concerns” about First Resort’s misleading advertisements and asking First Resort to “correct” its advertising “to clarify that the clinic does not offer or make referrals for abortion services.” This is the only such letter the City Attorney sent First Resort.

[1269]*1269At an October 18, 2011 Board meeting, various supervisors commented on the proposed legislation. Supervisor Cohen stated, “I want to remind you the purpose and intent of this Ordinance is to protect consumers of pregnancy-related services by prohibiting [LSPCs] from knowingly disseminating false or misleading advertising information about the services they provide.” Supervisor Weiner said, “we are obviously balancing ... constitutional rights here,” noting that “we’re all very conscious of the First Amendment,” and that “this has been a narrowly drafted ordinance.” Disagreeing with his colleagues, Supervisor Elsbernd argued that “the proponents of this legislation [have] made clear that their target is ... First Resort,” and that “there has been no testimony, documentation, no affidavits of any woman, any service, someone seeking service who has been misled.”

On October 25, 2011, the Board passed the Ordinance in a ten-to-one vote. The Ordinance was signed into law on November 3, 2011, and took effect on December 4, 2011.

3. The Ordinance

The Ordinance amended the San .Francisco Administrative Code, adding Chapter 93, Sections 93.1 through 93.5, “to prohibit [LSPCs] from making false or misleading statements to the public about pregnancy-related services the centers offer or perform.” The Ordinance is divided into five sections: (1) “Title,” (2) “Findings,” (3) “Definitions,” (4) “Violation,” and (5) “Enforcement.” See generally S.F. Admin. Code, ch. 93 §§ 93.1-93.5.

The “Findings” section explains the impetus for the Ordinance, stating that “[i]n recent years, clinics that seek to counsel clients against abortion”—often referred to as crisis pregnancy centers (“CPCs”)— “have become common throughout California.” Id. § 93.2(5). Although some CPCs “openly acknowledge, in their advertising and their facilities, that they do not provide abortions or emergency contraception or refer clients to other providers of such service[,]” others “seek to mislead women contemplating abortion into believing that their facilities offer abortion services and unbiased counseling.” Id. § 93.2(6). “Because of the time-sensitive and constitutionally protected nature of the decision to terminate a pregnancy, false and misleading advertising by clinics that do not offer or refer clients for abortion or emergency contraception is of special concern to the City.” Id. § 93.2(9).

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860 F.3d 1263, 2017 WL 2766094, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 11408, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-resort-inc-v-dennis-herrera-ca9-2017.