A Worcester City Council meeting Tuesday night turned into a tense debate over anti-abortion counseling businesses, often known as "crisis pregnancy centers," and why City Manager Eric Batista has refused to regulate them.
In July 2022, councilors voted to have Batista draft an ordinance that would penalize the centers if they use deceptive advertising tactics to present themselves as comprehensive pregnancy healthcare facilities. Batista has yet to deliver that draft, which prompted Councilor Thu Nguyen to ask for an update at Tuesday’s meeting.
Batista said he has not followed through on the council’s request out of concern the law could subject the city to First Amendment lawsuits. He added that then-Attorney General Maura Healey’s office advised Worcester's legal team last year to not go through with the ordinance. The city occasionally consults with state officials about local policy, Batista noted.
“I have a strong responsibility not only to the residents of the city and the taxpayers of the city, but overall, I need to make a decision that I can't put ourselves in a position where we're going to be legally liable,” he said.
The city manager added that he thought he addressed his legal concerns in previous private meetings with councilors. He said legislative requests are often resolved with councilors behind closed doors without being brought to the council floor.
That response did not satisfy Nguyen and other councilors, who pressed Batista on why he wasn’t more transparent with the public about his decision making.
“I think there’s a lot of backdoor conversations that’s happening here that I’m not too happy about,” Nguyen said. “Is it at the discretion of the city manager to decide to not follow the political will of the council?”
Councilor Khrystian King added he would have preferred a written, public recommendation from Batista and the city’s legal team about whether to move forward with the ordinance. Even if the ordinance was legally unsound, King said City Council should have the final say about how to proceed.
“If this body decides it is worth a legal fight, then that it is our decision on behalf of the citizenry,” he said.
The debate Tuesday came after a Worcester woman filed a class-action lawsuit in June against one of two anti-abortion centers in the city. The woman alleged that a Clearway Clinic worker, who was not a licensed physician, failed to diagnose her ectopic pregnancy during an ultrasound and instead told her the pregnancy was safe. About a month after the ultrasound, the woman needed life-saving emergency surgery to address internal bleeding from a ruptured fallopian tube.
Soon after the lawsuit became public, Nguyen posted a statement on social media saying they heard Worcester’s draft ordinance regulating anti-abortion counseling centers has not made it to the City Council floor because the state attorney general’s office advised against it.
Then on Monday, the news outlet Patch released text messages obtained via a public records request between Worcester City Solicitor Michael Traynor and Assistant Attorney General Margaret Hurley. In the texts, Traynor said he had “great reservations” about the ordinance.
The attorney general’s office has not responded to GBH News' request for comment about Hurley’s communications with Traynor.
The fate of the ordinance and whether Worcester does anything to regulate anti-abortion counseling centers remains unclear.
During Tuesday’s meeting, some councilors, including Kate Toomey and Moe Bergman, agreed Worcester shouldn’t move forward with a new regulation if it means the city could be sued. Toomey noted there are existing state laws that allow consumers to file complaints against businesses that use deceptive advertising tactics.
Still, Councilor George Russell said Worcester needs to take some action to further protect residents. That could involve a public education campaign that spreads awareness about “crisis pregnancy centers” and their desire to steer people away from abortions.
“People in the city of Worcester, whether they're residents or business, should feel confident that when they're going to any business, especially medical … that the services that they're presenting are actually being provided,” Russell said.
Mayor Joseph Petty ended debate on the issue by holding it under personal privilege, a maneuver that suspends discussion until the council’s next meeting in August.
