On Monday, June 16, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of a pro-life organization’s stance in a free speech case.
The organization, called Susan B. Anthony List, is a pro-life organization that is “dedicated to electing candidates and pursuing policies that will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List will emphasize the election, education, and mobilization of pro-life women,” their website explains.
The case involved the SBA List and Steve Driehaus, a Democratic Congressman who actually takes a pro-life stance himself.
The SBA List wanted to put up a billboard with the words, “Shame on Steve Driehaus! Driehaus voted for taxpayer-funded abortion,” according to a CNN report.
Driehaus filed a complaint arguing that the SBA List made false claims about him.
“A lie is a lie. The First Amendment is not and never has been an invitation to concoct falsehoods aimed at depriving a person of his livelihood,” said Driehaus.
Although Driehaus later dropped the complaint, the SBA List continued on and filed a complaint against an Ohio state statute, which forbids false statements from being made during electoral campaigns, for inhibiting their right to free speech. The Supreme Court allowed the SBA List to go on with this complaint.
The court explained that the SBA List had a “sufficiently imminent injury” because of their inability to put up the billboard ads in question.However, the justices did not yet say whether or not the Ohio law is indeed unconstitutional.
