New York Attorney General Letitia James is using the power of her office to censor anti-abortion pregnancy centers because they tell women about the option of using progesterone for abortion pill reversal, according to a lawsuit filed against her Tuesday.
"Despite saying that she supports women's choice, the Attorney General seeks to deprive women who change their mind and want to continue their pregnancies, or who are coerced or tricked into a chemical abortion, of truthful information about progesterone treatment, a safe option that has been used by obstetrician-gynecologists to help maintain pregnancies for decades," stated the lawsuit, filed by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) on behalf of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, Gianna's House, and Options Care Center.
James, a Democrat, sued Heartbeat International and its 11 affiliated faith-based anti-abortion pregnancy centers in the state this month, alleging they are spreading "false and misleading" information about the progesterone treatment. Heartbeat International and its affiliates, represented by the Thomas More Society, countered with a lawsuit April 30, claiming James launched a "political witch hunt" against the groups.
Patients seeking medicated abortions take a two-pill cocktail that includes first mifepristone and then, about 48 hours later, misoprostol to end a pregnancy through 10 weeks gestation (70 days or less since the first day of a patient's last menstrual period), according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In a news release announcing her lawsuit against Heartbeat International, James, a staunch abortion advocate, said "abortions cannot be reversed. Any treatments that claim to do so are made without scientific evidence and could be unsafe. Heartbeat International and the other crisis pregnancy center defendants are spreading dangerous misinformation by advertising 'abortion reversals' without any medical and scientific proof."
But the ADF's lawsuit cited a 2018 study in which 48% of pregnant women who underwent progesterone treatment within 72 hours after taking mifepristone went on to have live births.
It also cited the case of a woman named Maranda, who had taken mifepristone after an unexpected pregnancy. Maranda began to question her decision, the lawsuit stated, and she found information on Syracuse-based New Hope Family Services' website about using FDA-approved progesterone supplements, which physicians can lawfully prescribe under New York law, to save a developing child by counteracting the hormone-blocking effects of mifepristone.
After being treated with supplemental progesterone, her daughter, Myli'anna, was born healthy about seven months later.
"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 a news 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.
"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. We are urging the court to affirm the pregnancy centers' freedom to tell interested women about this lawful, life-saving treatment."
Newsmax reached out to James' office for comment.
The Thomas More Society also said in a news release Tuesday that it got an early victory in its lawsuit when a New York judge denied James' motion for a change of venue from the Rochester area in upstate New York to more liberal Manhattan.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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