Yelp asks court to block Texas lawsuit over crisis pregnancy center notices

Yelp

28/09/2023 17:27

By Brendan Pierson
       Sept 28 (Reuters) - Yelp Inc  YELP.N  is asking a
federal court to stop Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from
suing it over notices telling its users that crisis pregnancy
centers do not provide abortions or referrals for abortions.
    In a complaint filed on Wednesday in federal court in San
Francisco, the online business review site operator said Paxton,
a Republican, told it last week that he intended to bring a
lawsuit under Texas's unfair business practices law. The company
said its notices are true, not misleading, and are protected
free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.
    Paxton's office did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
    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.
    In August 2022, Yelp began posting a notice on crisis
pregnancy centers' pages stating that they "typically provide
limited medical services and may not have licensed medical
professionals onsite."
    The company said in the complaint that it posted the notices
to prevent users from being misled by crisis pregnancy centers
that deliberately targeted women seeking abortions.
    In February, in response to a complaint by Paxton, the
company changed the notices to state that crisis pregnancy
centers "do not offer abortions or referrals to abortion
providers." Paxton's office said in a press release at the time
that the new language was accurate.
    According to Wednesday's lawsuit, Paxton nonetheless
informed Yelp on Sept. 22 that he intended to sue the company
for posting misleading notices in violation of the state's law
on unfair business practice, and seeking up to $10,000 per
violation.
    "Notably, the letter does not confine its threat to Yelp's
'violations' in Texas, but seeks to punish editorial choices -
made by a California company - globally," Yelp said. The company
is asking the court to declare that Paxton's proposed lawsuit
would be unconstitutional and to block him from filing it.
    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 and Bill Berkrot)
 ((Brendan.Pierson@thomsonreuters.com; 332-219-1345 (desk);
646-306-0235 (cell);))