Pregnancy Centers in New York Can Continue Promoting Abortion Pill Reversal
The centers won an injunction against the state attorney general.
Pregnancy resource centers (PRC) in New York will continue offering abortion pill reversal assistance after they won a preliminary injunction in federal district court last week.
Summit Life Center and Evergreen Association — doing business as EMC Frontline Pregnancy Centers — won an injunction preventing New York Attorney General Letitia James from enforcing New York statutes against them to keep them from informing the public about Abortion Pill Reversal (APR), its safety, and its effectiveness.
The injunction will remain in place until the underlying lawsuit is fully resolved.
According the federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the pregnancy centers by the Thomas More Society, James began threatening PRCs and the national Abortion Pill Reversal Network in April with notices-of-intent-to-sue, claiming that “recipients’ truthful noncommercial statements about APR constituted commercial fraud under two state statutes.”
James threatened to silence the promotion of APR, but not the procedure itself.
APR uses the natural hormone progesterone to reverse the effects of chemical abortion drugs. Initial studies indicate it has a 64-68% rate of saving pregnancies, according to the APR website.
A similar lawsuit about APR is currently being litigated in state court, but these pregnancy centers are not party to that lawsuit.
However, knowing that James filed suit against other pregnancy centers, Summit and Evergreen filed a federal lawsuit claiming their First Amendment free speech rights to talk about APR is being chilled.
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They filed a lawsuit to defend their free speech, free exercise, and due process rights to continue speaking about APR.
“Plaintiffs indeed already are being harmed because the litigative sword of Damocles that hangs above their heads has chilled their speech and forced them to discontinue communicating the science of APR,” the federal lawsuit reads.
“This injunction marks a critical victory for New York’s pregnancy help organizations and another blow to Letitia James’ unconstitutional witch-hunt against pro-life ministries,” Thomas More Society Vice President Peter Breen said in a press statement.
“These small nonprofits, which exist to compassionately serve women and offer them alternatives to abortion, deserve to have their speech elevated—not chilled. This court order makes clear Ms. James cannot censor pro-life speech purely because she dislikes it,” he added.
“We’re incredibly pleased a federal judge has now made clear that Attorney General Letitia James’ legal attacks on our state’s pro-life ministries unconstitutionally chills our First Amendment right to share the lifesaving message of Abortion Pill Reversal—which gives pregnant moms in the middle of a chemical abortion a second chance to choose life,” Barbara Bidak, executive director of Summit said.
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