(LifeSiteNews) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a major legal victory over Yelp on Monday after an appellate court ruled that the company can be held accountable in any state where consumers use its services, not just in its home state of California.

Paxton touted the victory in a press release as a major boost to the pro-life organizations which Yelp had originally attempted to slander.

“Yelp tried to play politics and steer users away from pro-life resources, but being based in the criminal-loving state of California will not shield them from accountability,” stated Paxton.

“I will continue to defend pro-life organizations that serve Texans and make sure that women and families are receiving accurate information about our state’s resources.”

In its decision, the Fifteenth Court of Appeals stated that Texas has jurisdiction to pursue legal action because consumers in the state were affected by Yelp’s platform. The court objected to Yelp’s claim that a trial in Texas would cause an undue burden on the company to travel outside California.

“There is no undue burden placed upon Yelp by exercising jurisdiction,” states the decision.

“Yelp enjoys benefits and privileges when conducting business in Texas, which are accompanied by the corresponding obligation to answer suits that may arise from that business.”

Paxton had originally filed a lawsuit against Yelp in 2023 when the company added “inaccurate and misleading language” to the descriptions of pro-life pregnancy centers on its platform. According to a 2023 press release, Yelp added a note to all pregnancy resource center pages stating that these centers “typically provide limited medical services and may not have licensed medical professionals on site.”

The statement was found to be misleading and mainly untrue, as pregnancy centers do provide medical services with licensed medical professionals on-site.

Yelp’s CEO has been an outspoken advocate for abortion clinics, as in 2022, in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Jeremy Stoppelman issued a lengthy statement in which he emphasized the need to take action over “reproductive health care.”

“As it became clear that our distributed workforce does not have equal access to reproductive health care, with some employees and their families standing to lose access altogether, I realized we needed to take action,” stated Stoppelman.

In his Monday press release, Paxton emphasized that he will continue to fight for pro-life services while holding Yelp accountable.

“The Office of the Attorney General will continue to hold Yelp accountable under Texas law and ensure that Texans receive accurate information when seeking help and pro-life services.”