UPDATE 1-Challenge to N.Y. abortion bias law revived by US court

Adds comment from Alliance Defending Freedom in paragraphs 7-8

By Daniel Wiessner

Jan 2 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday said a judge must reconsider his dismissal of a lawsuit by a pregnancy crisis center and others seeking to strike down a New York law that prohibits retaliation against employees who receive abortions.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the plaintiffs, including crisis center operator CompassCare, would be able to proceed with claims that the 2019 state law is unconstitutional if the judge ultimately finds that it threatens their "very mission."

Crisis pregnancy centers provide services to pregnant women with the goal of preventing them from having abortions.

The appeals court in 2023 had revived a similar challenge to the law by a different operator of pregnancy crisis centers. The court in that case said the right to freedom of association in the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment shields employers from being forced to associate with workers if it could undermine their core mission.

The 2nd Circuit on Thursday said that in light of that decision, U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy in Binghamton, New York, must reconsider whether CompassCare and the other plaintiffs can show that the law burdens their associational rights.

The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kevin Theriot of Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian group that represents the plaintiffs, said the ruling will help bolster the rights of religious organizations.

“Religious employers are free to hire individuals who share their core beliefs, and no government can force faith-based organizations to contradict those convictions," Theriot said.

The plaintiffs include the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, an anti-abortion advocacy group, and a Baptist church near Rochester, New York.

The 2019 New York law makes it illegal to discriminate or retaliate against workers because of their "reproductive health decision making." The law also requires employers to include a notice in employee handbooks outlining workers' rights under the law.

The plaintiffs sued the state in 2019, claiming the law improperly forced them to associate with workers who receive abortions in violation of the First Amendment. They also claimed the notice requirement amounted to compelled speech.

McAvoy in 2020 permanently blocked the state from enforcing the notice requirement, agreeing that it was unlawful. But he dismissed the associational claims, saying any impact on the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights was incidental.

In the 2023 case, the 2nd Circuit had reversed a similar ruling by McAvoy in a different case challenging the state law, finding that the plaintiff had plausibly alleged that the law severely burdened its rights. That case is pending.

Following suit, the 2nd Circuit on Thursday revived the claims dismissed by McAvoy in the second case, saying that in light of its 2023 ruling the plaintiffs may be able to establish a violation of their constitutional rights.

But the panel also reversed McAvoy's block on the law's handbook requirement, saying it merely requires employers to disclose "the existence and basic nature" of the law, and not to agree with it.

The panel included Circuit Judges Sarah Merriam, Barrington Parker and Myrna Perez.

The case is CompassCare v. Hochul, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 22-951.

For the plaintiffs: Jonathan Dalton of Alliance Defending Freedom

For the state: New York Assistant Solicitor General Laura Etlinger

Read more:

Court revives challenge to New York law protecting workers who get abortions

(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York)

((daniel.wiessner@thomsonreuters.com))