FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 4, 2014
Contact: Mallory Quigley, [email protected], 703-380-6674
U.S. District Court in Cincinnati to Hear Oral Arguments in SBA List’s Challenge to Ohio Law Chilling Free Speech
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After four years and a trip to the U.S. Supreme Court, today the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) will finally get its day in District Court in Cincinnati. Judge Timothy Black will hear oral arguments in the case of Susan B. Anthony List v. Ohio Elections Commission. Attorney Michael A. Carvin of Jones Day in Washington, D.C. will argue the SBA List’s First Amendment challenge to Ohio’s “false statement” law.
Background: In 2010, SBA List attempted to erect billboards to expose that former Cincinnati area Congressman Steve Driehaus supported taxpayer funded abortion by voting for the Affordable Care Act. SBA List was prevented from doing so because of the Ohio law, and was threatened with prosecution if it engaged in similar speech about Driehaus or other candidates in Ohio. SBA List is challenging the statute which empowers a state agency to determine what constitutes true or false political speech.
Previously on June 16, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the SBA List did have standing to continue its First Amendment challenge to the Ohio law. Twenty-one amicus briefs were filed to the Supreme Court on behalf of the Susan B. Anthony List.
“It is beyond dispute that Obamacare contains multiple abortion-funding provisions,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “This reality will continue to be an issue in this year’s midterm elections and future election cycles. Today we are optimistic that Judge Black will side with the First Amendment, so that we may proceed in Ohio and elsewhere with our ongoing efforts to inform voters that their elected representatives who voted for the Affordable Care Act voted for taxpayer funded abortion.”
The Affordable Care Act provides new federal tax subsidies that will finance elective abortion coverage for millions of women who did not have such insurance, expands state Medicaid program coverage of elective abortion for millions of women in dozens of states, and uses federal funds to finance elective abortion coverage for members of Congress and their staff.
The Susan B. Anthony List and its Political Action Committees, the SBA List Candidate Fund and Women Speak Out PAC, are dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates who will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List emphasizes the education, promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women. The SBA List is a network of more than 365,000 pro-life Americans nationwide.
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