OAKLAND, CA - After six weeks of trial proceedings in Alameda County Superior Court, the presentation of evidence has concluded in People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions. Now that the evidence is in, the record speaks for itself: the Attorney General failed to prove his case.

The California Attorney General’s Office used the past six weeks to try to shut down pro-life pregnancy help ministries for telling women that Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) exists, deploying the State’s False Advertising Law against truthful, protected First Amendment speech. The State is seeking a permanent gag order on APR speech and more than $20 million in fines, which would cripple the ministries’ ability to serve women. Thomas More Society attorneys, who serve as defense counsel for Heartbeat International and RealOptions, presented testimony from mothers who saved their babies after starting APR, medical professionals, and experts showing APR is both safe and effective.

“For years, the California Attorney General has sought to silence pregnancy help ministries for telling women a simple truth: a woman who regrets taking the abortion pill may still have a chance to save her pregnancy,” said trial attorney Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation. “This trial was Rob Bonta’s chance to prove his claims that APR is ‘unsafe’ and ‘ineffective.’ Bonta couldn’t find a single victim to put on the stand, and his own witnesses refused to endorse those claims.”

The Attorney General alleges the evidence exposed APR as “unsupported by scientific evidence.” The trial record tells a different story—starting with the collapse of the State’s prosecution during its own lead expert’s testimony under cross-examination.

“Bonta’s so-called ‘experts’ undercut his case. His lead expert admitted under oath that he could not swear that APR is ineffective or unsafe. And the State’s own ‘misinformation expert’ conceded there is no evidence that a single California woman, or any woman, has ever been harmed,” Breen continued.

Both parties will submit post-trial briefs through late August, with closing arguments before Judge Patrick McKinney expected in mid-September.

“I told the Court in opening that the study proving falsity would never come—and it never came,” said trial attorney Paul M. Jonna, Thomas More Society Special Counsel and Partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP. “The State has criticism, not proof—and after six weeks of trial, still not one injured woman, not one complaint.”

“What the Attorney General is really attacking is free, truthful information that women asked for, and every word of it is protected by the First Amendment. The truth is a complete defense, and we expect our clients to be fully vindicated,” Jonna added.

Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop Michael C. Barber, SJ of Oakland, made the same case in The Wall Street Journal today, denouncing California’s attempt to punish these pro-life ministries for helping women choose life.

“This case has never been about protecting women,” Breen said. “It is about the power of a government to punish people it disagrees with and to try to bankrupt the pregnancy help ministries who help women choose life. We are confident the truth will prevail.”