This article originally appeared in the Thomas More Society 2024 Impact Report. To explore the full Impact Report, click here.

From the West Coast to the East Coast, fierce legal battles are raging to protect pregnancy help ministries and the future of Abortion Pill Reversal, or APR. In the heart of the Empire State, one legal battle encapsulates what is at stake as pregnancy help ministries face heightened attacks from state attorneys general.

As pregnancy center directors, doctors, nurses, volunteers, and dedicated pro-life ministries from around the world gathered in Salt Lake City, Utah, for Heartbeat International’s annual Pregnancy Help Conference, the storm clouds of lawfare gathered above New York. On April 22, 2024, in the joyous midst of Heartbeat’s conference, news broke that at least a dozen pregnancy centers across the Empire State had received “Notice of Intent to Sue” letters from New York Attorney General Letitia James. That day, Heartbeat, a global network of pregnancy centers—many of whom offer free APR services to women who regret taking the abortion pill and are desperately trying to save their baby—also received one at their office in Ohio.

These threat letters targeted the speech of pregnancy centers that shared and promoted access to APR, the science-backed, life-saving protocol that helps mothers try to save their babies even after taking the first abortion pill, mifepristone. APR, pioneered by Dr. George Delgado, works by essentially flooding the body with progesterone, the naturally-occurring and pregnancy-sustaining hormone. Progesterone counteracts the effects of mifepristone, hoping to overwhelm mifepristone’s fatal effect, which suffocates the preborn child by blocking progesterone in a pregnant woman’s body. Supplemental progesterone has been used successfully since the 1950s in the medical profession, particularly to support the health of women and babies during at-risk pregnancies. To date, over 7,000 children are alive thanks to the life-saving intervention of APR, according to internal statistics from Heartbeat—preeminent evidence for the efficacy of APR.

James’ threat letters falsely accused the targeted pregnancy help ministries of “repeated and persistent misleading statements and omissions” related to information about APR—threatening fines and prosecutions that would be ruinous for these small community nonprofits. The letters gave these pro-life ministries only five business days to explain why James should not sue them for false advertising and “deceptive business practices.” Thomas More Society attorneys, representing Heartbeat and a dozen targeted pregnancy centers, sprung into action to combat James’ imminent and ruinous legal action. But this wasn’t the first time this legal strategy was deployed against Heartbeat and our movement’s pregnancy help ministries.

CALIFORNIA’S CAMPAIGN OF CENSORSHIP

In September 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta fired the opening shot in the battle against Heartbeat and APR. That month, California’s chief law enforcement officer filed suit against Heartbeat and Bay Area pregnancy centers RealOptions Obria Medical Clinics, over their advocacy in support of APR. His lawsuit alleged that these pro-life organizations were engaging in “false advertising” by sharing the truth about APR—that this protocol is able to counteract the effects of the first abortion pill, if begun in time.

Indeed, studies show that APR has a success rate of 64-68% of saving a pregnancy if begun within 72 hours of when a pregnant mother ingests the first abortion pill. Heartbeat operates the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network and a hotline that connects women in need of urgent help to providers that will aid pregnant women who change their minds about their in-progress chemical abortion and seek to save their babies. But for Bonta, this life-saving effort was tantamount to heresy—and his lawsuit sought to shut down speech that promotes this option for women seeking it out.

“Women undergoing chemical abortions deserve the truth: even after starting a chemical abortion, they may still be able to save their babies,” remarked Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation.

“California and its Attorney General Rob Bonta are illegally and unconstitutionally seeking to rip away ‘choice’ from women in dire need by attacking pregnancy help ministries like Heartbeat and RealOptions, to shut down their promotion of Abortion Pill Reversal.”

With nearly 3,500 affiliated pregnancy help locations worldwide, including the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network, Heartbeat has become a target for abortion advocates seeking to monopolize the narrative—even at the cost of forcing a woman to complete an abortion she doesn’t want. “California should be more concerned with helping women who desperately want to continue their pregnancy,” reacted Jor-El Godsey, President of Heartbeat International. “Targeting women’s opportunity to reverse their abortion is an obvious act of misusing the goodwill of taxpayer funding to shill for Big Abortion.”

Since Bonta’s lawsuit was filed, TMS attorneys have filed hundreds of pages in legal arguments supporting both the science of APR and the constitutionality of sharing this pro-life message—contrary to the claims of the California AG. Then, in April 2024, this legal battle spread to the East Coast, as New York’s Attorney General took up the mantle and kicked off her own witch-hunt against pregnancy help ministries.

STRIKING BACK IN THE EMPIRE STATE

As James’ threat letters rained down on Heartbeat and New York’s pregnancy centers, TMS attorneys mobilized to launch a massive preemptive strike that would stop the imminent lawsuit seeking to shut down speech about APR. On April 30, 2024, TMS attorneys ran into state court—beating Letitia James to court—filing a lawsuit alleging that the New York AG’s witch-hunt violates the First Amendment and unconstitutionally silences protected speech.

Knowing that James’ lawsuit would appear in state court, federal litigation was not an option in defense of the targeted ministries. Days later, James’ prosecutors filed suit officially against Heartbeat and the targeted pregnancy centers—hoping to haul these centers into Manhattan state court, onto Big Abortion’s turf. But the preemptive lawsuit filed by TMS attorneys was filed in Rochester, New York—and courts generally rule in favor of the venue of those that file first.

With two lawsuits on the books, the courts had to sort out who had the upper hand, until a New York state judge ruled to bring the two cases together in the proper venue, in Rochester, near where our pregnancy help ministry clients serve women. This procedural victory dealt the first blow to James’ witch-hunt, and most importantly, forestalled any ruinous harm that hung over the head of New York’s pregnancy help ministries in the interim period. With the case now tied up in the courts, TMS attorneys continue to fight back against James’ unconstitutional attempts to shut down speech about APR.

COASTAL COUNTERATTACK

As the state cases brought by Bonta and James, against Heartbeat and other pregnancy centers, continue to be litigated in court, TMS attorneys are bringing counterattacks in federal court on both coasts, to block further action against pro-life ministries. In New York, TMS attorneys filed a federal court lawsuit in Buffalo, New York, on behalf of Summit Life Outreach Center and the Evergreen Association, arguing that James’ actions caused an unconstitutional ‘chilling’ effect on the free speech rights of other pro-life pregnancy centers.

In September 2024, a federal judge issued a court order blocking James from coming after Summit Life, Evergreen, and other ministries—finding that the New York AG’s actions were likely unconstitutional violations of the First Amendment. Meanwhile, TMS attorneys also launched a similar counterattack against Bonta in California, in a federal lawsuit on behalf of Culture of Life Family Services. COLFS, similar to Summit Life and Evergreen, believes that Bonta’s actions threaten their right to speak freely about APR. Out of fear of harassment and ruinous legal action from Bonta, COLFS is seeking protection for their right to continue sharing information about APR.

Women in the midst of a chemical abortion deserve to know that Abortion Pill Reversal is not just possible but safe and effective, and our clients have the right to share that truth with women who are undergoing a chemical abortion that they do not want to continue. As the abortion pill becomes the go-to form of abortion, accounting for about two-thirds of all abortions in the U.S., and as new data emerges on the widespread dangers of the abortion pill, these heated legal battles against pro-abortion lawfare grow more critical than ever.

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