Texas Sues Yelp for Warnings about Crisis Pregnancy Centers; Review Platform Sues State for First Amendment Violation

Texas sued Yelp on Thursday for allegedly misleading consumers about crisis pregnancy centers and the online review platform has sued the state for allegedly infringing on its protected speech.

“Yelp specifically targeted pregnancy resource centers nationwide with their false and misleading disclaimer,” the lawsuit filed by Texas states. “Other types of facilities, such as Planned Parenthood and clinics performing abortion services, did not have disclaimers placed on their webpages even if the disclaimer would have been true for that facility.”

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton sued Yelp on Thursday in a district court of Bastrop County, Texas for allegedly engaging in “deceptive trade practices” and misrepresenting crisis pregnancy centers, which offer services to pregnant women but generally do not perform or recommend abortions. The lawsuit argues that Yelp violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices − Consumer Protection Act, Texas Business and Commerce Code. 

Days after Politico published a leaked draft opinion of Dobbs v. Jackson in May, 2022, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman issued a statement endorsing abortion access and affirming Yelp’s commitment to advocating for such procedures. 

“We need more business leaders to use their platform and influence to help ensure that reproductive rights are codified into law, and that the wave of abortion bans and restrictive policies across the country are not allowed to stand,” reads Stoppelman’s article, published in May, 2022.  

Yelp added what Texas described as a “misleading disclaimer” on the business pages of crisis pregnancy centers in August, 2022.

 “This is a Crisis Pregnancy Center. Crisis Pregnancy Centers typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals onsite,” the Yelp notice stated. 

Texas alleges that the disclaimer was selectively applied to crisis pregnancy centers, “regardless of the kind of medical services offered and regardless of whether the center actually had licensed medical professionals onsite.” Texas further alleges the notice was not added to other facilities which provide abortions but do not have licensed professionals on site. 

Twenty-four attorneys generals sent a letter to Stoppelman on February 7, 2023, arguing that the disclaimer was misleading and overly broad because some crisis pregnancy centers do have licensed medical professionals. 

Yelp then updated the notice shown to consumers.

“This is a Crisis Pregnancy Center. Crisis Pregnancy Centers do not offer abortions or referrals to abortion providers,” the new notice stated. 

Paxton’s office referred to the new notice as an “accurate description” in a press release. 

Attorney General Paxton mailed Yelp a letter dated September 22, 2023 notifying the company of intent to file suit, which states that Texas is authorized to seek “civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation.”

“For nearly six months Yelp singled out pregnancy resource centers for an alleged lack of medical professionals on site, effectively dissuading innumerable consumers who may otherwise have utilized these centers for medical and other services,” the lawsuit filed by Texas states. 

Yelp preemptively filed a lawsuit, dated September 27, in a San Francisco federal court seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. 

Yelp argues that, since 2018, it has received reports that crisis pregnancy centers “mislead consumers about their services” and were “diverting consumers seeking medical abortions away from actual medical providers by manipulating search results to promote their non-abortion services.”

Yelp began to categorize businesses as “crisis pregnancy centers,” which include “businesses offering pregnancy-related services, but not abortion services or referrals to abortion providers.” Yelp argues that its original notice was “accurate and not misleading” based on “evidence” of what crisis pregnancy centers “may not” offer and what they “typically” provide. 

The lawsuit filed by Yelp cites that Paxton recognized the updated consumer notice as “accurate.”

Yelp alleges that its “truthful statements” are fully protected speech, and that Attorney General Paxton has violated the Constitution by seeking to punish Yelp’s free expression. 

“An injunction is necessary to avert an irreparable chill on Yelp’s First Amendment rights, and free Yelp from either forgoing its rights or facing prosecution for excising them,” Yelp’s lawsuit states. 

According to a report by the pro-life group the Charlotte Lozier Institute, 68,832 workers serve pregnancy centers, including nearly 3,800 licensed medical staff. The report states that 2,700 pro-life pregnancy centers nationwide provided 1,848,376 people with free services, including over 700,000 pregnancy tests and 486,000 ultrasounds. The centers also provided aid after birth, including more than 2 million baby outfits and nearly 1.3 million packs of diapers

The Charlotte Lozier Institute found that abortions made up 97.2 percent of Planned Parenthood’s pregnancy resolution services in 2020-2021, while prenatal services, miscarriage care, and adoption referrals accounted for less than 3 percent of services total. 

Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Yelp “countersued” Texas. However, Yelp preemptively sued Texas for infringing on its protected speech rights.