CV NEWS FEED // New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Heartbeat International and 11 crisis pregnancy centers in the state over their promotion of the abortion reversal pill, claiming they are using “false and misleading statements” about the pill’s effectiveness.
“Abortions cannot be reversed,” stated James in a May 6 news release announcing the lawsuit. “Any treatments that claim to do so are made without scientific evidence and could be unsafe.”
>> Mom Tells Beautiful Story of How Abortion Pill Reversal Saved Her Baby Girl <<
James’ news release states that the defendant pregnancy centers and Heartbeat International “aggressively advertise APR (abortion pill reversal) on their websites, social media, and other promotional materials,” such as stating that it is possible to reverse a chemical abortion if the life-saving pill is taken in time.
A chemical abortion involves a two-pill regime. The pregnant mother first takes mifepristone, which blocks the hormone progesterone, effectively starving the unborn child to death. The second pill, misoprostol, is taken later to induce delivery of the deceased child.
James’ news release on the lawsuit explains that the abortion pill reversal “treatment involves administering repeated doses of progesterone, a hormone bodies naturally produce during pregnancy, to a pregnant person who has taken mifepristone but has not yet taken misoprostol.”
As CatholicVote previously reported, “The reversal works by reintroducing progesterone into the woman to counter the mifepristone and restore nutrition and support to the baby.”
James seeks to stop the pro-life organizations “from continuing to promote this unproven treatment in ways that are misleading about its experimental nature and potential risks,” according to the May 6 news release.
“Specifically, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) seeks an order requiring the removal of all false and misleading claims in marketing materials and prohibiting further violations. Attorney General James is also seeking the payment of civil penalties for violations of the law,” the news release notes.
Heartbeat International is a leading advocate for abortion pill reversals especially through its partnership with the hotline, Abortion Pill Rescue Network.
In January, the pro-life organization’s president spoke in a Congressional hearing about the dangers of chemical abortions and the effectiveness of abortion pill reversals. A guest at the hearing was a mother, Katelynn, whose daughter was saved by an abortion reversal pill.
Heartbeat International is transparent that there is not a 100% guarantee that the reversal pill will work, citing on its website that 64-68% of women who took an abortion reversal pill were able to save their pregnancies.
Heartbeat International continues to advocate for the pill’s accessibility to give mothers a chance to save their pregnancy from a chemical abortion before it is too late.
On April 22, James sent a notice of litigation to 10 pro-life pregnancy centers in the state, claiming that the centers have promoted abortion pill reversal with false and misleading information.
The pro-life legal organization Thomas More Society filed a lawsuit against James on April 30 on behalf of Heartbeat International and several pregnancy centers.
As CatholicVote previously reported, the Thomas More Society lawsuit against James “(outlined) the AG’s unlawful intimidation of pregnancy help organizations through threats of prosecution.”
