UPDATE, 5/12/24: New York Attorney General Letitia James has followed through on her threat to sue pregnancy centers in the state over abortion pill reversal, officially filing suit on May 6. Pregnancy Help News reports:
Thomas More Society Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation Peter Breen commented on James’s May 6 filing against Heartbeat and the pregnancy help organizations, echoing his thought from the previous week that James is on a political witch-hunt against life-affirming pregnancy help organizations.
“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,” Breen said. “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. In doing so, Ms. James is seeking to keep in the dark women who desire to urgently try to continue their pregnancies.”
Pregnancy Help News also notes that in a press release, AG James relies on a problematic abortion pill reversal study led by pro-abortion researcher Mitchell Creinin. As Live Action News has previously noted, that particular study was halted early due to the fact that of the 12 participants (a very small sample size), two women dropped out, and three women experienced “severe hemorrhage requiring ambulance transport to hospital.”
Two of those three women received a placebo (in other words, no progesterone to counter the effects of the abortion pill) and one received progesterone. Live Action News pointed out that the study showed:
Twice as many patients who were given progesterone instead of a placebo saw their pregnancies continue, and twice as many patients who received the placebo were transported to the hospital via ambulance.
[Dr.] Christina Francis [of the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs] previously responded to the accusations of danger in Creinin’s study in a statement to Live Action News, saying, “It actually was only one woman who received progesterone that was taken to the hospital and two who received placebo. The one who received progesterone completed her abortion and required no further treatment. The two who did NOT receive progesterone both had to have emergency surgery and one had to have a transfusion.” (emphasis added)
James also used messaging from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to disparage “abortion pill reversal,” yet ACOG is known to have strong pro-abortion bias, and there is proof that ACOG has known for quite some time that progesterone decreases the effectiveness of the abortion pill (mifepristone).
4/26/24: A New York State Office of the Attorney General has sent a letter notifying pro-life pregnancy help centers in the state of the AG’s intent to sue them for alleged “misleading statements” regarding the so-called “abortion pill reversal” protocol.
The pregnancy centers were given five business days to respond.
New York State AG notice of lawsuit against prolife pregnancy centers over abortion pill reversal (APR)
“Abortion pill reversal,” or APR, has a mechanism of action which works by supplementing the pregnant woman with the hormone progesterone to outcompete the effects of mifepristone (the first drug in the abortion pill regimen). Mifepristone (brand name Mifeprex) starves the preborn child of the nutrients it needs to survive by inhibiting the pregnancy-sustaining action of the woman’s naturally occurring progesterone.
Progesterone has been used safely in pregnant women for decades. Live Action News has previously reported on APR’s safety and efficacy and has published numerous stories of women who were able to save their children’s lives by following the APR protocol and also previously documented how the pro-abortion American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG) and others within the abortion industry already know that progesterone can interfere with the action of the abortion pill.
False and Deceptive Advertising Lawsuits
The New York State notice of litigation mimics a separate lawsuit previously filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta against “Heartbeat International (HBI)” and “RealOptions Obria,” claiming the pro-life organizations “used fraudulent and misleading claims to advertise an unproven and largely experimental procedure called ‘abortion pill reversal (APR).’”
Live Action News previously reviewed the sources listed in Bonta’s complaint — and found that many of the allegations supporting the lawsuit came from sources with a prominent pro-abortion bias. Read more about the California case here.
CompassCare PRC Speaks Out
“On April 22, 2024, New York [State] 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,'” CompassCare CEO Rev. Jim Harden, wrote in a press release sent to Live Action News.
Rev. Harden sent a copy of the notice showing it was signed by Eve Woodin, Assistant Attorney General Health Care Bureau, as well as Louisa Irving, Assistant Attorney General Civil Rights Bureau.
That letter from the New York State AG’s office 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.” See the full letter below:
New York AG notice of lawsuit against prolife pregnancy centers
The New York State notice of litigation does not contain any specific examples or sources as to what was alleged to be “misleading.”
According to Rev. Harden, “The Albana 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.” Rev. Harden claimed that proposal was tabled after the PRC sent a letter from their attorneys earlier this week. Shortly thereafter, the certified notice of litigation was sent out, he claimed.
In the video message seen below, Rev. Harden reiterated that CompassCare provides free assistance to pregnant women and claimed that New York State AG Letitia James is violating the center’s first amendment rights.
“First of all,” asserts Rev. Jim Harden, “according to the 1st 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.”
Rev. Harden also alleged that the New York State AG “has been actively attacking pro-life pregnancy centers since the illegal leak of the Dobbs case.”
“The attacks on pregnancy centers began on June 7, 2022, with the firebombing of CompassCare’s medical office in Buffalo, injuring two firefighters. Firebombing of pro-life groups is now deemed domestic terror by the DOJ. One week after the firebombing, NY Governor Kathy Hochul weaponized legislation by signing a bill to investigate the victims, alleging misinformation while referring to pro-life people as Neanderthals,” Harden wrote. “Shortly after, New York Attorney General Letitia James conspired with big tech like Google to censure pro-life pregnancy centers, keeping women from finding them on map features. James applauded Google’s illegal compliance in August 2022. The timeline of attacks including vilification of pro-life pregnancy centers through negative PR and activist litigation can be found on CompassCare’s webpage.”
The abortion industry, claimed Rev. Harden, is “violating medical ethics on a serial basis and harming women” — women whom Rev. Harden claims are “in desperate need of ethical medical care.”
According to Rev. Harden, “The powerhouse public interest law firm, Thomas More Society based in Chicago, is representing pro-life defendants in both cases, pro bono.”
Rev. Harden claims the New York State lawsuit threat is “wasting taxpayer money and keeping us from doing our job” to help women. “We will not stop serving women facing an unplanned pregnancy.”
