According to recent reports, New York Attorney General Letitia James is planning to sue pro-life pregnancy centers over alleged misleading statements about “abortion pill reversal.” James notified the anti-abortion pregnancy centers that they have five days to respond.
For context, “Abortion pill reversal” (APR) is a process that supplements progesterone to pregnant women to nullify the effects of mifepristone, a drug in the abortion pill protocol. Mifepristone prevents the fetus from receiving the necessary nutrients it needs to survive by inhibiting a pregnant woman’s naturally occurring progesterone.
Allegedly, James’ initiative mimics another lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta against the pro-life organizations Heartbeat International (HBI) and RealOptions Obria, accusing them of using misleading claims in their advertisements for “abortion pill reversal.”
However, reports indicate that progesterone has been safely used in pregnant women for decades, where APR has been demonstrated to be efficacious. Moreover, many women have shared their stories of how utilizing APR ultimately saved the lives of their unborn children.
“On April 22, 2024, New York Attorney General Letitia James began a carbon-copy notice of litigation against Christian pro-life pregnancy centers. Ten pro-life pregnancy centers have been served so far for alleged ‘misleading statements or omissions in the advertising of the Abortion Pill Reversal (‘APR’) protocol,’” according to a statement from CompassCare CEO Jim Harden.
Per the New York Attorney General’s letter, CompassCare is accused of propagating “misleading statements and omissions” in its advertising of the APR process. It was suggested that the pro-life organization was not entirely honest about how safe and effective the protocol truly is.
The letter stated, “[I]n light of CompassCare’s repeated and misleading statements and omissions in the advertising of the Abortion Pill Reversal (‘APR’) protocol, including, but not limited to, statements and omissions relating to the safety and efficacy of the APR protocol. The Attorney General intends to seek injunctive relief, restitution, damages, civil penalties, auditing and compliance review, costs, and other such relief as the court may deem just and proper.”
Notably, the litigation did not cite any examples of what it asserts to be misleading information. Furthermore, Harden asserted his organization’s right to free speech is under attack, where they could be preventing it from advertising their cause to pregnant women.
According to Harden, “The Albany County legislature was proposing a local law to restrict CompassCare’s free speech rights as well as other pregnancy centers keeping us from marketing [or] advertising to women.” However, he noted this effort was ultimately “tabled” upon action from their lawyers.
The CompassCare CEO further emphasized how the Constitutional right to freedom of speech is under attack, where the government is effectively trying to discern truth from falsehood. Harden accused Letitia James of wanting to “force” women to go through with their abortions, even if they regret starting the process.
“First of all, according to the First Amendment of the Constitution, pro-abortion government agents don’t get to decide what is true or false. But more importantly, if politicians like Letitia James get their way and hamstring pro-life groups and doctors, New York will be engaging in forced abortion. Women who start the chemical abortion process often change their mind after taking the first dose. In Letitia’s ideal world, if a woman starts an abortion the government will force her to go through with the abortion or travel out-of-state to save her baby.”
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