A federal judge ruled Thursday that several New York crisis pregnancy centers could continue to speak freely about the abortion pill reversal protocol as state Attorney General Letitia James cracks down on pregnancy centers in the state.
U.S. District Judge John Sinatra granted a preliminary injunction to the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, Gianna’s House, and the Options Care Center against James, who has sued pro-life pregnancy centers across the state over their promotion of the abortion pill reversal protocol.
The protocol is a method backed by pro-life organizations where a woman can take a prescribed dose of bioidentical progesterone to potentially reverse the effects of mifepristone and save an unborn child if she changes her mind at the last minute about going through with the abortion.
“The First Amendment protects Plaintiffs’ right to speak freely about [abortion pill reversal] protocol and, more specifically, to say that it is safe and effective for a pregnant woman to use in consultation with her doctor,” Sinatra wrote in his ruling. “Indeed, the ‘very purpose of the First Amendment is to foreclose public authority from assuming a guardianship of the public mind through regulating the press, speech, and religion.’”
The pro-life groups, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, announced a lawsuit against James in May after she launched lawsuits against 11 pregnancy centers accusing them of false advertising.
“Women in New York have literally saved their babies from an in-progress chemical drug abortion because they had access to information through their local pregnancy centers about using safe and effective progesterone for abortion pill reversal,” said ADF lawyer Caleb Dalton. “But the attorney general tried to deny women the opportunity to even hear about this life-saving option.”
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“Taking supplemental progesterone may give them a chance to save their baby’s life. Women should have the option to reconsider an abortion, and the pro-life pregnancy centers we represent in this case truthfully inform them about that choice,” he added. “The court was right to affirm the pregnancy centers’ freedom to tell interested women about this life-saving treatment option.”
Pregnancy centers around the country have come under fire from Democratic lawmakers and pro-abortion activists after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. According to CatholicVote, there have been at least 93 attacks on pregnancy centers and pro-life groups since a copy of the decision to overturn Roe leaked.
Aid for Women, one such center based in Chicago, was vandalized after the closing of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, according to photos posted by Mary FioRito. The photos showed red painted plastered on the door and spray paint saying “Fake Clinic” and “the dead babies are in Gaza.”
For the past 25 years, it’s been my privilege to be a volunteer and board member at Aid for Women, a nonprofit that runs maternity homes and pregnancy services throughout Illinois.
Last night, after the closing of the DNC, vandals attacked one of AFW’s Chicago locations. pic.twitter.com/yieCfi3XqE
— Mary H. FioRito (@maryfiorito) August 23, 2024
The vandalism was quickly condemned by pro-life leaders.
“We are disheartened to see that just after a week of dark and shameless celebration of the tragedy of abortion at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, including offering free abortions via bus, a pregnancy care center nearby was violently attacked,” said March for Life President Jeanne Mancini.
