Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore
Description: The city of Baltimore passed an ordinance that forces pregnancy resource centers to post signs discouraging women from using their services.
Federal court rules in favor of pregnancy resource centers, free speech
The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Matt Bowman regarding a federal court’s order late last week in Greater Baltimore Center for Pregnancy Concerns v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore which upholds the free speech of pregnancy resource centers by ruling against a city ordinance that forced the centers to promote messages at odds with their pro-life beliefs and mission:“No American should be forced to promote activities or speak messages that violate their deepest convictions, as Baltimore’s ordinance required. That law is very similar to ones in other places of the country, such as California and Illinois, where ADF is currently seeking to protect the constitutionally protected freedoms of other pregnancy resource centers that are being threatened by the government. The court’s decision in this case will provide persuasive precedent to defend free speech there and in other states. We commend allied attorney Mark Rienzi and the rest of the pregnancy centers’ legal team for this important First Amendment victory.”
- Pronunciation guide: Bowman (BOH-min')
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ABOUT Matt Bowman
Matt Bowman serves as senior counsel and director of regulatory practice for Alliance Defending Freedom, where he leads the team focusing on the impact of administrative law on religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and family. From 2017 to 2020, Bowman was a senior executive service appointee in the Trump administration, serving the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as Deputy General Counsel, and then in the Office for Civil Rights. Prior to joining HHS, Bowman was an accomplished litigator at ADF for over ten years. Before joining ADF in 2006, Bowman served as a law clerk for Judges Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Michael A. Chagares, at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and for Judge John M. Roll at the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. Bowman earned his J.D. summa cum laude and was first in his class at Ave Maria School of Law in 2003. He is a member of the bar of the District of Columbia and Michigan and is admitted to practice at the U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal appellate and district courts.