THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

But when it suits the various followers of imaginary invisible sky demons, they can lie and cheat you for the greater glory of their ISD. And the availability of abortions in California is the latest focus of their efforts on behalf of their imaginations.

The clinic is one of more than 3,000 crisis pregnancy centers around the country that are operated by religious opponents of abortion, with the heartfelt aim of persuading women to choose parenting or adoption. Now it and others in California are in a First Amendment battle with the state over a new law that requires them to post a notice that free or low-cost abortion, contraception and prenatal care are available to low-income women through public programs, and to provide the phone number to call.

The clinics argue that the law, which took effect in January, flagrantly violates their rights of free speech, and it appears that many of the dozens of licensed pregnancy centers in California are not yet complying.

“I don’t want to put up a sign telling you where you can go for an abortion,” said Mr. McClure of the clinic here, which is a plaintiff in one of several legal challenges. “The sign is not up here now because it’s unconstitutional.”

Many states are passing restrictions that could force abortion clinics to close, a tactic under scrutiny in a major Supreme Court case to be argued next month. Here in California, it is the abortion opponents who are seeking to block a law — one adopted by a liberal state government to offset what officials call the misleading advice dispensed by pregnancy centers.

Abortion rights advocates have long accused the centers of luring women in without revealing their bias, then providing false accounts of medical and emotional risks of abortion, among other tactics, to steer them away from the procedure. But the Constitution’s high bar for interfering with free speech has largely protected the centers from regulation. Previous efforts in New York City and a few other places to require them to state, upfront, that they do not provide abortion referrals and make other disclosures have been largely struck down by federal courts.

So far, California’s law has fared better, with three federal district courts and one state court refusing to block it as the cases proceed toward trial. Officials say their law is written to comply with the First Amendment because it does not force the centers to say anything about their beliefs. Rather, it requires licensed centers to prominently post, or hand out, factual notices about public programs.

Truth is always the first casualty when religion battles with reality.