The city council calls it telling the truth. The religious backers call it freedom of speech. Now a federal judge will weigh in.

The religious backers of crisis pregnancy centers in Baltimore, Maryland, were handed a victory in July when a judge ruled that asking them to place notices informing women that they did not provide nor refer clients for abortions or birth control violated their free speech.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, which defended the Baltimore law, vowed to appeal the decision. Now, a federal judge has agreed to rehear the case in December.

“We applaud the Fourth Circuit for reconsidering this important case and we will continue to fight alongside the City of Baltimore in its efforts to protect residents from the deceptive business practices of so-called crisis pregnancy centers,” said Stephanie Toti, senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights via email release. “The women of Baltimore deserve timely access to comprehensive reproductive health care services, not lies and delay tactics.”

Is it a violation of free speech to be honest and clear that you do not provide the services most of the women who accidentally enter the building are seeking? We will learn in December.