New York attorney general sued for ‘targeting’ pro-life pregnancy centers 

CNA Staff, May 29, 2024 / 13:55 pm (CNA).

The nonprofit law firm Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) and others are suing New York Attorney General Letitia James for allegedly “using her power to censor pro-life pregnancy centers” because they promote abortion pill reversal, according to a Tuesday press release.

The naturally occurring hormone progesterone can be used to combat the abortifacient effect of the first abortion pill. James sued 11 faith-based, pro-life pregnancy help centers earlier this month alleging that the centers promoted misleading statements about abortion pill reversal.

ADF filed the suit along with The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) on behalf of two nonprofit pro-life pregnancy centers.

“New York is intentionally denying women the freedom to continue their pregnancies by censoring those who promote it. They are forcing women to follow through with an abortion — even if they don’t want to,” said Thomas Glessner, president and founder of NIFLA, in a statement shared with CNA.

“How does it even remotely make sense to trust women with their medical decisions if you are actively trying to hide scientifically-based information from them?” he continued. “It makes no sense, nor is it legal.”

The abortion pill is a two-step procedure in which a pregnant woman first ingests the drug mifepristone, which cuts off the unborn baby’s supply of the hormone progesterone, leading to the baby’s death.

The woman then takes a second drug, misoprostol, which causes the uterus to contract, eventually expelling the baby’s body.

Abortion pill reversal works by administering progesterone in high doses after a woman has ingested mifepristone; the hormone is meant to counteract the effects of the abortive drug. Several surveys have found evidence that the drug can be effective at halting a medicated abortion.

“Many women regret their abortions, and some seek to stop the effects of chemical abortion drugs before taking the second drug in the abortion drug process,” ADF legal counsel Gabriella McIntyre said in the press release. “Taking supplemental progesterone at that time can often save their baby’s life.”

“The New York attorney general, however, is doing everything she can to deny women the freedom to make that choice,” McIntyre continued in her statement. “Women should have the option to reconsider going through with an abortion, and the pro-life pregnancy centers we represent in this case truthfully inform them about that choice.”

The complaint centers around a young woman who used information from a New York pro-life pregnancy center to save her daughter’s life.

“If it wasn’t for the information about Abortion Pill Reversal online, I would have completed the abortion and Myli’anna would not be alive today,” the woman identified as Maranda stated in the lawsuit filed last week.

“We are urging the court to affirm the pregnancy centers’ freedom to tell interested women about this lawful, lifesaving treatment,” McIntyre concluded.