New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Heartbeat International for false advertising over its promotion of abortion pill reversals, prompting the pro-life pregnancy network to accuse her of protecting “Big Abortion.”
Ms. James said that Heartbeat and its 11 New York-based centers violated state law against deceptive business practices by advertising that women who begin but do not complete the two-pill process can avoid terminating their pregnancies.
“Abortions cannot be reversed. Any treatments that claim to do so are made without scientific evidence and could be unsafe,” Ms. James, a Democrat, said Monday in a statement. “Heartbeat International and the other crisis pregnancy center defendants are spreading dangerous misinformation by advertising ‘abortion reversals’ without any medical and scientific proof.”
A staunch pro-choice advocate, Ms. James said that the state must protect “pregnant people’s right to make safe, well-informed decisions about their health.”
Heartbeat International President Jor-El Godsey swung back by saying that “AG James is parroting abortion propaganda rather than studying the actual scientific evidence.”
“With this lawsuit, AG James is protecting Big Abortion in New York while denying women in her state the right to continue their own pregnancies,” he said.
Heartbeat and other pro-life groups had sought to block the lawsuit after Ms. James issued an April 22 “Notice of Intention to Sue,” accusing her of seeking to silence her political foes with false charges.
“Today, New York Attorney General Letitia James has decided to proceed full steam ahead with her witch-hunt against New York’s pregnancy help organizations,” said Peter Breen, executive vice president of the Thomas More Society, which represents the pro-life groups.
“Delivering on her threat of lawfare against our life-affirming clients, Ms. James has filed a baseless lawsuit in Manhattan— where none of our clients are located — to unconstitutionally silence their pro-life message,” he said. “In doing so, Ms. James is seeking to keep in the dark women who desire to urgently try to continue their pregnancies.”
This morning, New York AG Letitia James delivered on her threats and sued our clients, @HeartbeatIntl and 11 pregnancy centers across the state—and is seeking to “stop” them from helping women save their babies. We’re fighting back. Here’s how: https://t.co/G6CpotcgXK pic.twitter.com/i7ScV2sm7H
— Thomas More Society (@ThomasMoreSoc) May 6, 2024
Ms. James filed the lawsuit in state court in New York County.
The abortion pill process starts with the woman taking the drug mifepristone to block the hormone progesterone, preventing her pregnancy from progressing.
The second pill, misoprostol, is taken in the next 24-48 hours to induce a miscarriage. If the woman changes her mind after the first pill, pro-life pregnancy centers offer progesterone to try to stop the body from discharging the pregnancy.
Ms. James said, “There is no credible scientific evidence proving that the treatment is safe or effective.”
Mr. Breen countered that doctors have long prescribed progesterone therapy to prevent miscarriages.
“The administration of supplemental progesterone, which is the heart of the Abortion Pill Reversal protocol, has been used for decades to help pregnant women at serious risk for miscarriage,” he said. “And thousands of pregnant women, at risk of miscarriage because of taking the abortion pill, were able to have healthy babies because of the timely application of supplemental progesterone through the Reversal protocol.”
Heartbeat bills itself as the “largest network of life-affirming pregnancy help in the world, with over 3,500 affiliated locations in 90 countries.”
The abortion pill protocol has been rising in popularity since it was approved in 2000 by the Food and Drug Administration for abortions up to 10 weeks of gestation. A lawsuit filed by pro-life doctors challenging the FDA approval is now before the Supreme Court.
In 2023, the two-pill process also known as “chemical abortion” and “medication abortion” accounted for 63% of pregnancy terminations, according to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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