The Region - News from July 29, 1985

An anti-abortion group being sued for allegedly using misleading advertising to get pregnant women to its counseling centers has the right to “propagandize” the women, Superior Court Judge Warren Deering said in a tentative ruling. The right to free speech entitles the Right to Life League of Southern California to tell women who respond to advertisements for free pregnancy tests and counseling that abortion may lead to a variety of problems, he said. Deering’s tentative ruling came in pre-trial arguments in a suit brought by Shanti Friend, who claimed the anti-abortion group used deceptive advertising to lure her into its Torrance clinic for a pregnancy test, then harassed her with what her attorneys called a “political and religious spiel” against abortion.