A federal judge has issued a ruling that blocks New York Attorney General Letitia James from taking legal action against pro-life pregnancy centers promoting the use of progesterone to reverse the effects of the abortion pill, citing concerns over the infringement of free speech rights.
U.S. District Judge John Sinatra, appointed by former President Trump, granted the temporary injunction on Thursday in favor of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates and two of its members, Gianna’s House and Options Care Center.
“Absent an injunction, Plantiffs are harmed each day they are forced to give up their Constitutional right to speak freely,” Sinatra said. “The Attorney General’s equitable counterweights, if any, are insufficient to deny relief on this record.”
The lawsuit came in response to James’s civil enforcement action against Heartbeat International and 11 of its faith-based pregnancy centers in New York, accusing them of disseminating “false and misleading” information by promoting abortion-pill reversals (APR).
The state’s actions have had a chilling effect on other pro-life crisis centers offering this procedure. APR involves prescribing progesterone to a woman who has taken the first pill in a chemical abortion but has since changed her mind.
The New York attorney general’s office has accused these centers of deceptive advertising, asserting that it is impossible to reverse an abortion. However, pro-life advocates argue that progesterone has successfully saved thousands of pregnancies.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), representing the pro-life centers, welcomed the ruling. The ADF stated that the order allows these facilities to inform women about the possibility of counteracting the abortion pill’s effects, free from censorship by the Attorney General’s office. ADF Senior Counsel Caleb Dalton stressed the importance of choice, saying, “Pregnant women should have the option to reconsider an abortion.”
