Worcester City Manager Scuttled Council Crisis Pregnancy Center Order

WORCESTER, MA — A debate over regulating anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers in Worcester has revealed a larger struggle for control over policymaking inside city hall between elected city councilors and the appointed city manager.

At Tuesday's city council meeting, At-Large Councilor Thu Nguyen interrogated City Solicitor Michael Traynor and City Manager Eric Batista about why they never delivered an ordinance regulating crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) the council voted in favor of in July 2022.

In a tense exchange, Batista told Nguyen he decided not to act on the council's request because he feared the city could get sued.

"I know that you have asked me directly to bring that ordinance forward," Batista said. "I was not comfortable doing that with the legal liability."

During the exchange, Batista told Nguyen he thought he had communicated clearly he wasn't going to bring the item forward to debate in public, and considered the matter settled in “off-the-record” meetings with Nguyen. Batista said legislative requests from councilors are often resolved behind closed doors without being brought to the council floor.

"Is it at the discretion of the city manager to decide to not follow the political will of the council?" Nguyen asked Traynor.

"As the chief administrator, he makes the decision on putting things forward," Traynor said. "He declined."

At one point, Nguyen accused Batista of lying about the ordinance, prompting Mayor Joseph Petty to rule Nguyen "out of order." Nguyen said they were told the item was ready in September, but it never reached the council floor.

"Why did you lie to me for the whole year when you said something was ready in September?" Nguyen said.

"I did not lie to you," Batista responded, saying that he chose to hold back the item.

The debate Tuesday followed the release of text messages between Traynor and a deputy state attorney general that showed Traynor didn't want to draft the CPC ordinance. In one message, Traynor said he was told "not to bother" drafting an ordinance — guidance that came from Batista.

Several councilors took issue with Batista and Traynor's response to Nguyen, saying the council should have the chance to debate the ordinance in public and vote on it — even if it's legally unsound.

At-Large Councilor Khrystian King said should get to decide for itself what laws to act on. Traynor on Tuesday sent councilors a legal justification for not moving forward with the ordinance, but it was not shared with the public.

"I would've preferred an ordinance with a strongly worded recommendation from the solicitor, from the administration, indicating what the concerns are in writing. Not anecdotally, not by word of mouth, but in written form so an educated and informed decision could be made by this body," King said.

Councilors also debated the legal ramifications of an ordinance regulating CPCs in Worcester. Nguyen's order asked for a law regulating how the centers advertise their services, and requiring them to refer people to abortion care. CPCs exist to steer pregnant people away from abortions and offer services like free ultrasounds, STD testing and pregnancy tests to attract patients.

Last year, the state Attorney General's office issued a consumer advisory about CPCs, warning residents that most are not licensed medical facilities and often "provide inaccurate and misleading information about abortion and the medical and mental health effects of abortion." Gov. Maura Healey and the state Legislature have also moved to spend $1 million on a public education campaign about CPCs.

Cambridge and Somerville have passed local laws regulating how CPCs advertise services since many centers are easy to confuse with abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. Easthampton's city council passed a similar law, but the mayor vetoed it last week out of fear of a legal challenge.

Traynor said any proposed ordinance would be a "content-based regulation," and a possible First Amendment violation. He also said Cambridge and Somerville likely haven’t faced legal challenges because neither community has a CPC.

The conservative Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom sued Connecticut in 2022 over a law the state passed regulating the advertising practices and CPCs. That lawsuit was dropped this year after Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said he won't enforce the law.

Traynor said the city had already received a legal threat without even drafting an ordinance. King said during the meeting the threat came from the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI), a Wakefield-based Christian policymaking group. King said the group told the city any legal challenge would "depend on the text of the ordinance."

At-Large Councilor Moe Bergman said he didn't think the council had enough evidence that local CPCs were causing harm to move forward with a law. There are two CPCs in Worcester: Problem Pregnancy, which is across the street from Planned Parenthood along Pleasant Street; and Clearway Clinic, which has been sued by a local woman for a misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancy. Bergman said the Clearway Clinic lawsuit only contains allegations so far.

"We shouldn't be sticking our nose in other people's business," Bergman said. "Right now we're on a witch hunt against two organizations."

At-Large Councilor Kate Toomey said there are existing state laws that help residents file complaints about businesses CPCs. The state Attorney General has also advised residents to file complaints about CPCs through the civil rights division.

Nguyen offered to split their ordinance in two, which would allow the council to debate and vote on 1) whether to regulate how CPCs advertise and 2) requiring them to offer abortion referrals.

"I'm more than happy to look at multiple things, but I will say the city council of Easthampton passed their ordinance; it was an elected body," Nguyen said. "I would say the political will of Easthampton was pretty clear on tackling this."

District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj asked Batista if he would ever deliver a draft ordinance or a report on regulating CPCs. Batista did not immediately answer during Tuesday's meeting. Batista did say he was ready to submit a draft ordinance and report to councilors last week but decided not to.

"I feel very uncomfortable not being given the right to do my responsibility as an elected official to deliberate on an item," Haxhiaj said.

Petty ultimately held the CPC ordinance under personal privilege, a maneuver that allows councilors to suspend discussion on an item until the next meeting. The issue will be back on the agenda when the council meets next in August.