Will California’s 200 pro-life pregnancy centers and medical clinics be forced by the state to advertise taxpayer-funded abortions on their own dime?

The answer will have to wait until at least Sept. 25, after the U.S. Supreme Court held off on taking a statewide challenge in Thursday’s round of petition reviews.

Leaders throughout the state say they’re optimistic about their chances the Court will take up the case, even amid silence from the nation’s highest bench. Every year, 7-8,000 cases are brought before the Court, which only accepts 80 for oral argument.

“Because the vast majority of petitions are denied the first time the Court takes a look at them, it is a positive sign for us that the Court wants additional time to consider our petition,” Carol Dodds, executive director at A Woman’s Friend Pregnancy Resource Clinic in Marysville, Calif., wrote to supporters Thursday night. “This is one more step toward our ultimate victory!”

Josh McClure, executive director of East County Pregnancy Care Clinic based in El Cajon, called the Court’s holding over of the petition an encouraging sign, while Cathy Seapy—CEO of Living Well Medical Clinic in Grass Valley, said she remained “hopeful of a victory.”

The pregnancy centers’ Supreme Court appeal challenges a 2015 law called the “Reproductive FACT Act,” which forces as many as 100 state-licensed pro-life medical clinics that offer free ultrasound to advertise for abortion, while mandating that the 100 pregnancy centers not offering ultrasound services post signage stating they are not a medical provider.

Full story at Pregnancy Help News.