First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin

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Supreme Court of the United States
First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin
Docket number: 24-781
Term: 2025
Court: United States Supreme Court
Important dates
Argument: December 2, 2025
Court membership
Chief Justice John RobertsClarence ThomasSamuel AlitoSonia SotomayorElena KaganNeil GorsuchBrett KavanaughAmy Coney BarrettKetanji Brown Jackson

First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin is a case scheduled for argument before the Supreme Court of the United States on December 2, 2025, during the court's October 2025-2026 term.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The issue: The case concerns whether a group of faith-based nonprofits that provide pregnancy-related services can challenge the constitutionality of a subpoena from a state attorney general in federal court. Click here to learn more about the case's background.
  • The questions presented: "Where the subject of a state investigatory demand has established a reasonably objective chill of its First Amendment rights, is a federal court in a first-filed action deprived of jurisdiction because those rights must be adjudicated in state court?"[1]
  • The outcome: The appeal is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • The case came on a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. To review the lower court's opinion, click here.

    Background

    Case summary

    The following are the parties to this case:[2]

    • Petitioner: First Choice Women's Resource Centers, Inc.
      • Legal counsel: Erin Morrow Hawley
    • Respondent: Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General of New Jersey
      • Legal counsel: Jeremy Michael Feigenbaum

    The following summary of the case was published by Oyez, a free law project from Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, and the Chicago-Kent College of Law:[3]

    First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. is a nonprofit organization in New Jersey that operates a network of centers offering pregnancy-related services. In 2023, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs began investigating First Choice over concerns that its client-facing websites downplayed its pro-life mission and may have misled donors and clients about its services, staff qualifications, and medical practices. State investigators identified possible discrepancies between what First Choice told donors—emphasizing a pro-life mission—and what was publicly communicated to potential clients on other websites. The investigation also scrutinized potentially misleading medical statements and questioned whether unlicensed staff were performing services that require medical credentials.

    As part of its investigation, the State issued a non-self-executing subpoena to First Choice seeking internal documents, advertising material, substantiation for medical claims, and information on donors and licensed personnel. First Choice objected to the subpoena—particularly the requests for donor identities—arguing that complying would violate its constitutional rights, including freedom of association and donor privacy. While First Choice continued to raise these objections, the state filed a motion in New Jersey Superior Court to compel enforcement. The state court denied First Choice’s motion to quash the subpoena in full but did not order immediate production of documents. Instead, it instructed the parties to negotiate the subpoena’s scope, specifically reserved constitutional arguments for future resolution, and clarified that donor identities would be sought only for those who contributed through two specific websites. As a result, First Choice remained under no court order to turn over the disputed materials while negotiations continued.

    While contesting the subpoena in state court, First Choice filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, seeking federal relief to block enforcement on constitutional grounds. The district court twice dismissed the federal suit as unripe, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed, holding that the ongoing state court proceedings and the lack of any order compelling compliance rendered First Choice’s claims not ready for federal adjudication. [4]

    To learn more about this case, see the following:

    Timeline

    The following timeline details key events in this case:[5]

    Questions presented

    The petitioner presented the following questions to the court:[1]

    Questions presented:
    Where the subject of a state investigatory demand has established a reasonably objective chill of its First Amendment rights, is a federal court in a first-filed action deprived of jurisdiction because those rights must be adjudicated in state court?[4]

    Oral argument

    Audio

    Audio of the case will be posted here when it is made available.

    Transcript

    A transcript of the case will be posted here when it is made available.

    Outcome

    The case is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.

    October term 2025-2026

    See also: Supreme Court cases, October term 2025-2026

    The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 6, 2025. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions by mid-June.[6]


    See also

    External links

    Footnotes