Rob Bonta by Douglas Despres / California Attorney General's Office (Left), Elyssa Dedios / Unsplash (Right)
Lawyers representing a Catholic medical ministry in Southern California accused state Attorney General Rob Bonta this week of trying to silence pro-life speech about life-saving care for unborn children.
The attorneys with Thomas More Society (TMS) filed their opening brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals July 22, on behalf of Culture of Life Family Services (COLFS), according to a TMS press release. The appeal follows a lower court’s decision that, TMS attorney Peter Breen warned, puts many lives at risk.
If the lower court’s decision is upheld, Breen said in the release, “Bonta’s directive threatens hundreds, if not thousands, of babies whose mothers regret starting a chemical abortion and deserve to know about and have access to the potentially life-saving Abortion Pill Reversal protocol.”
COLFS initially filed suit in 2024 after Bonta targeted its efforts to inform women about Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) — a protocol involving progesterone that can counteract the effects of mifepristone, the first drug in a two-step chemical abortion.
The APR protocol can help women who change their minds after taking the initial abortion pill, according to the Thomas More Society (TMS). Some studies suggest that the protocol can save the unborn child in as many as 64% to 68% of cases.
The brief comes as part of an appeal following a lower court’s refusal to grant a preliminary injunction that would have shielded COLFS from potential enforcement from Bonta under state false advertising laws while it shares information about APR during ongoing litigation. The appeal asserts that this denial was in error and should be reversed to protect both free expression and patient autonomy.
Bonta has publicly criticized pro-life pregnancy centers for promoting APR. He joined 15 other state attorneys general in a 2023 open letter that described APR as “unproven and potentially risky medical protocol.” Bonta also targeted Heartbeat International and affiliated pro-life clinics in 2023, filing a suit that accused them of making false or misleading claims about APR.
Represented by TMS, COLFS argued that Bonta’s actions not only suppress religious expression but also prevent women from accessing information that could allow them to save their babies.
The organization contends that the state is applying scrutiny selectively, targeting pro-life viewpoints while leaving abortion providers’ public messaging largely unregulated.
“Despite zero evidence of consumer complaints concerning APR and no evidence of patient harm,” Breen said in the release, “Bonta is desperate to bully California’s pro-life ministries into silence and keep abortion alternative information away from women who want it.”
The legal team argues that this is a clear instance of viewpoint discrimination — government suppression of speech based on its message.
“Bonta’s targeting of pro-life pregnancy centers and their speech hurts women in crisis,” Breen said, later adding, “He’s kowtowing to his campaign donors, not protecting public health.”
