$20 Million Free-Speech Battle Erupts Over Abortion Pill Reversal

California prosecutors are seeking a $20 million fine against a women’s health center under a state law making it illegal to inform women of the medical fact that abortion pills can be reversed.

The pro-life legal advocate Thomas More Society reports in a statement that a trial began June 24, “in The People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions, a first-of-its-kind enforcement action brought by California Attorney General Rob Bonta seeking to punish and permanently silence pro-life nonprofit organizations for sharing truthful, medically supported information about a treatment that has helped save thousands of babies’ lives after their mothers took the first abortion pill.”

“Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) gives women who regret beginning a chemical abortion a second chance to choose life. The protocol administers supplemental progesterone to counteract mifepristone—the first drug in the two-pill abortion regimen—allowing the pregnancy to continue, with peer-reviewed studies showing a 64–68% success rate,” Thomas More Society reports.

“APR is safe, legal, and has helped thousands of women bring their babies into the world. Heartbeat International operates the Abortion Pill Rescue Network, providing free information and connecting women with APR providers nationwide. RealOptions is one such provider, offering both information and treatment at no cost. Both are represented by Thomas More Society in this case,” the group writes.

“The California Attorney General does not seek to ban APR itself—the treatment remains legal, and California doctors are free to provide it. What he seeks is something far more extraordinary: to make it illegal for two pro-life nonprofits to tell women that this legal and lifesaving option exists,” Thomas More Society reports.

“After nearly three years of litigation and extensive discovery, he has not received a single consumer complaint about APR, produced no evidence that any woman was harmed or misled, and pointed to no study showing APR is unsafe or ineffective. Yet, he is seeking more than $20 million in combined fines that would threaten the financial viability of Heartbeat International and pregnancy centers like RealOptions,” Thomas More Society adds.

“Heartbeat International’s and RealOptions’ constitutionally protected speech is supported by multiple peer-reviewed studies, basic science, and the conclusions of professional obstetrics associations representing more than ten thousand physicians. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Chiles v. Salazar that the government cannot suppress medical speech based on disputed science, because medical consensus evolves and licensed professionals maintain good-faith disagreements about medical practices. That is precisely what the Attorney General is attempting here,” Thomas More Society concludes.

Peter Breen, Executive Vice President & Head of Litigation, Thomas More Society writes: 

“This is the pro-life ‘trial of the century.’ California AG Rob Bonta is demanding an unprecedented gag order and a ruinous $20 million fine against Heartbeat International, the nation’s largest pregnancy center network. Heartbeat provides free, lifesaving information to women who have changed their minds about chemical abortion and want a second chance at life for their babies. If Bonta succeeds, those moms go unaided and their babies likely die. The First Amendment forbids government from declaring what’s true and false in issues of public debate like abortion—Bonta’s prosecution runs roughshod over the Free Speech rights of every American. We won’t let him succeed.”

Paul M. Jonna, Special Counsel at Thomas More Society and Partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP, stated:

“The First Amendment forbids government from suppressing speech it doesn’t like, especially on deeply contested scientific debates. Bonta’s legal theory, if it prevails, would expose any nonprofit in America that speaks publicly about its services and relies on donor support to the same government overreach. That is a threat to free speech and civil society far beyond this case.”

Jor-El Godsey, President at Heartbeat International added: 

“A woman calls our hotline in tears because she took that first pill and immediately knew she’d made a mistake. She wants her baby. We tell her there’s a chance. We connect her with a doctor. We pray with her. We never charge her a dime. And thousands of times, a baby has been born who almost wasn’t. That is what Attorney General Bonta wants to make illegal. Not because anyone has complained or has been harmed, but because he has decided that these women shouldn’t be allowed to know that a second chance at life exists.”

Tasha Keirns, CEO, RealOptions Medical Clinics, said: 

“I have sat with and supported pregnant women who came to RealOptions desperate to save their baby after taking the abortion pill, terrified that it was too late. I have administered progesterone while hopeful tears filled their eyes as they longed for Abortion Pill Reversal to work. I have also watched these empowered mothers walk back into our clinics months later with their precious baby in their arms—a child they fought for. The Attorney General of California wants to fine and silence us for saving lives. He wants to make it illegal for women to hear this lifesaving, evidence-based medical information. We will not stop fighting for a woman’s right to protect her pregnancy.”

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.