Texas sues Yelp over notices about crisis pregnancy centers (updated)

Yelp

28/09/2023 19:37

(Recasts with Texas lawsuit against Yelp)
    By Brendan Pierson
       Sept 28 (Reuters) - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
sued Yelp Inc  YELP.N  on Thursday for allegedly misleading
consumers by posting notices on its business review website
stating that crisis pregnancy centers provide limited medical
services.
    In the lawsuit, filed in the district court of Bastrop
County, Texas, Paxton, a Republican, accused the
California-based company of violating a Texas law against unfair
business practices.
    Crisis pregnancy centers offer pregnant women counseling
while seeking to prevent them from having abortions. Generally,
they do not clearly advertise their anti-abortion stance.
    The lawsuit comes a day after Yelp preemptively sued Paxton
in San Francisco federal court in an effort to ward off his
action. Yelp argued that its notices were true, not misleading,
and protected free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First
Amendment.
    The company did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
    In August 2022, Yelp began posting a notice on crisis
pregnancy centers' pages stating: "This is a Crisis Pregnancy
Center. Crisis Pregnancy Centers typically provide limited
medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals
onsite."
    In February, Paxton and other Republican state attorneys
general told Yelp the notice was misleading because it was
posted on pages of centers that did have licensed medical
professionals.
    The company, without conceding that the language was
misleading, changed the notices to state that crisis pregnancy
centers "do not offer abortions or referrals to abortion
providers." Paxton said at the time that the new language was
accurate.
    In his lawsuit on Thursday, Paxton said: "Defendant's
misrepresentations and failure to disclose the presence of
licensed medical professionals at pregnancy resource centers
dissuaded consumers from visiting these clinics in favor of
clinics that perform abortion services." 
    The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of money damages.
    Yelp had asked the San Francisco federal court for an order
finding that it would be unconstitutional for Paxton to sue over
the notices, and blocking him from doing so. There has not yet
been any order in that case.
    Paxton was acquitted earlier this month of corruption
allegations in an impeachment trial in the Texas state senate,
after having been suspended from his post since May.

 (Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia
Garamfalvi, Bill Berkrot and Rami Ayyub)
 ((Brendan.Pierson@thomsonreuters.com; 332-219-1345 (desk);
646-306-0235 (cell);))