(The Center Square) — Thomas More Society attorneys are appealing a U.S. district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction protecting a Catholic pro-life clinic’s right to speak about Abortion Pill Reversal.
On behalf of Culture of Life Family Services, a San Diego County-based pro-life pregnancy center, Thomas More Society is challenging California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s efforts to prohibit pro-life pregnancy centers from speaking about a lawfully available treatment that could reverse the effects of the abortion pill. Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm.
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Culture of Life Family Services filed a Verified Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief in July 2024 asking for permission to share Abortion Pill Reversal information to its patients. Almost a year later, a district court denied Culture of Life Family Services’ motion for preliminary injunction on June 23. Thomas More Society attorneys are appealing the decision in the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
Thomas More Society attorneys argue Bonta’s actions against informing and/or prescribing Abortion Pill Reversal treatment to patients violates the First Amendment by restricting speech “based on the content and viewpoint of pro-life ministries’ speech,” according a press release Tuesday. The lawyers also argue Bonta’s censorship violates patients’ rights to have their babies.
The lawyers said Abortion Pill Reversal treatment is prescribed to women who are “seeking medical help to stop a mifepristone-induced abortion,” in the Verified Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief. The Culture of Life Family Services and other pro-life pregnancy centers are informing women of the option.
“Bonta’s targeting of pro-life pregnancy centers and their speech hurts women in crisis,” Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of litigation at Thomas More Society, said. “These centers want to inform women in the midst of an unwanted chemical abortion about APR. Bonta is kowtowing to his campaign donors, not protecting public health, by punishing the religiously motivated speech of pro-life pregnancy centers like COLFS, while allowing abortion providers to operate unscrutinized.”
Abortion Pill Reversal is designed for women who have already started the two-pill abortion procedure by taking the first pill, mifepristone. Abortion Pill Reversal utilizes progesterone to counteract the effects of mifepristone, potentially allowing pregnant women to save their pregnancy and give birth to their baby. Abortion Pill Reversal has a success rate of approximately 64% to 68%, according to the Thomas More Society and the Abortion Pill Rescue Network.
Bonta has a history of using his power as attorney general to promote pro-abortion polices, Thomas More Society spokeswoman Katie Clancy told the Center Square Tuesday.
For instance, the attorney general created the Reproductive Justice Unit within the state Department of Justice and a statewide Reproductive Rights Taskforce to coordinate the unit’s work with sympathetic local councils across California, Clancy said.
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Breen said there has been no evidence of consumer complaints or evidence of patient harm concerning Abortion Pill Reversal. He added that Bonta’s actions are an attempt to keep pro-life pregnancy centers silent, evidently putting women’s and their babies/ lives at risk.
“If upheld, 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,” Breen said. “We believe that these mothers and babies deserve their second chance, and we look forward to fighting to protect their rights in the 9th Circuit.”