TMS WEEKLY DISPATCH 7/31/26

Welcome to the TMS Weekly Dispatch for July 31, 2026, with the latest news and updates from the front line, to keep you in-the-know on all things Thomas More Society. If you missed our last edition, click here.

Here’s the latest from the past week:

THE EVIDENCE IS IN - CALIFORNIA’S CASE IS BASELESS: After six weeks of trial, the presentation of evidence has concluded in People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions. The AG produced no victim, no complaint, and his own witnesses refused to endorse his claims that APR is unsafe or ineffective.

“I told the Court in opening that the study proving falsity would never come—and it never came,” said Paul Jonna, Thomas More Society Special Counsel. “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.

Read more.

Here’s what happens next in court:

Closing briefs are due in late August.

Oral closing argument before Judge Patrick McKinney is scheduled for September 17.

 Then, a decision is expected within 90 days.

TRUMP DOJ REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH PAUL VAUGHN OVER BIDEN ADMIN'S FACE ACT OVERREACH: Thomas More Society announced this week that its client, Paul Vaughn, a Christian father of 11, has reached a settlement with the federal government after being targeted by the Biden DOJ for his pro-life beliefs.

Vaughn was prosecuted under the FACE Act after peacefully praying, singing hymns, and serving as a messenger between police and protestors at a Tennessee abortion facility. Armed FBI agents raided his home before dawn, terrifying his family. He was convicted of a misdemeanor FACE violation and a felony Conspiracy Against Rights charge before being pardoned by President Trump on January 23, 2025. The settlement affirms that the Biden DOJ’s and FBI’s actions were an abuse of government power.

“This family did nothing wrong. Paul prayed and sang. He bore witness to his faith and for that, the full weight of the federal government was brought crashing down on his front door before the sun rose,” said Steve Crampton, Senior Counsel at Thomas More Society. “No American should ever again have to fear an FBI raid for praying and offering hope to women in need.”

Read our full press release here.

WSJ OPINION: TWO CATHOLIC BISHOPS DECRY CALIFORNIA’S PROSECUTION OF PRO-LIFE MINISTRIES: Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop Michael Barber of Oakland published a powerful opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal this week on the California APR trial, calling the case an abuse of power that should unite both sides of the abortion debate.

The bishops highlighted the story of Elizabeth Barrett, a trial witness who reversed her chemical abortion after finding Heartbeat International online and is now the mother of a healthy girl.

They noted that the AG has found no evidence that any woman was harmed by the defendants, and quoted the eminent Stanford legal scholar, Prof. Michael McConnell, who called the prosecution a “novel use of California's commercial-fraud statute” that “seems designed to intimidate nonprofit organizations.”

The bishops asked a pointed question of those who claim the “pro-choice” label: “What kind of people see a pregnant woman who wants to reverse the effects of an abortion pill and think, ‘Let’s punish the nonprofits that informed her she has a choice’?”

Read the full opinion piece here.

TMS LAUNCHES “DEFENDING SECOND CHANCES” ONLINE HUB: Thomas More Society has launched Defending Second Chances, a new online hub bringing together everything needed to follow this fight in one place. The hub includes case overviews for the California and New York enforcement actions and the federal free speech suits TMS has filed in both states, a claim-by-claim breakdown of what California is contesting, trial updates, declarations from APR mothers, key filings from both sides, and legal resources for pregnancy centers asking whether the same thing could happen to them.

Visit the “Defending Second Chances” page at thomasmoresociety.org/apr.

Media Roundup: