California Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Sue AG for Censoring Speech on Abortion Reversal Pill

A non-profit pro-life pregnancy center and a pro-life advocacy group are suing California's attorney general for trying to stop pregnancy centers from advertising abortion pill reversal services that could save the life of a baby. 

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a non-profit legal group, has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates and SCV Pregnancy Center in Santa Clarita, California, against state Attorney General Rob Bonta.

As CBN News reported, Bonta filed a lawsuit last year against Heartbeat International (HBI) and RealOptions, two faith-based pregnancy centers, to stop them from advertising abortion pill reversal services, claiming that the natural hormone used to reverse the abortion pill is "risky" and "has no credible scientific backing." 

Although that claim is touted by the abortion industry, pro-life doctors have refuted it with actual evidence of lives saved.

According to RealOptions, a pregnant woman's body produces the natural hormone progesterone to sustain a pregnancy. In chemical abortions, the drug Mifepristone blocks progesterone and starves the baby to death. The abortion pill reversal protocol consists of giving extra progesterone within 72 hours after taking Mifepristone to "outnumber and outcompete" the abortion drug so the baby can survive. 

Studies show that abortion pill reversal has likely saved over 5,000 unborn lives and one study found a 64-68% success rate.

National Institute of Family and Life Advocates and SCV Pregnancy Center are challenging the attorney general saying they "wish to truthfully inform the public" that it may be possible to save the life of a baby if Mifepristone is used. 

"If Defendant Rob Bonta, the Attorney General of California, had his way, these children would not be alive today. That's because he is seeking an injunction to prevent pregnancy centers from telling the public about this life-saving option," reads the lawsuit.

In the 30-page complaint, Bonta alleges there is no evidence the abortion pill protocol reverses abortion or even "contributes to the continuation of a pregnancy." He also claims that the pregnancy resource centers have taken "advantage of pregnant patients at a deeply vulnerable time in their lives, using false and misleading claims to lure them in and mislead them about a potentially risky procedure." 

"Those who are struggling with the complex decision to get an abortion deserve support and trustworthy guidance — not lies and misinformation," Bonta said in a statement.

***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

But as CBN News has reported on numerous occasions, doctors who utilize abortion pill reversal say it does work and does save lives if performed in time.

A 2018 peer-reviewed study published by Dr. George Delgado in the medical journal Issues in Law and Medicine followed 754 women who wanted to stop their chemical abortions that were already in progress. They found that 68% of women who started the reversal treatment were able to give birth to a healthy baby.

Bonta filed an injunction to prohibit pro-life centers from advertising about the life-saving drug.

ADF says his actions violate the pregnancy centers' First Amendment rights to speak freely and practice their religious beliefs.

"Access to information is a hallmark of a free society and is essential to making informed medical choices. But California's attorney general is silencing pregnancy centers and censoring information about life-saving medical options," said ADF Senior Counsel Caleb Dalton.

He added, "Attorney General Bonta and his allies at Planned Parenthood may not like it, but the truth is that many women regret their abortions, and some seek to stop the effects of chemical abortion drugs before taking the second drug in the abortion drug process. Women deserve to know all their options every step of the way."

"Every woman should have the option to reconsider going through with an abortion, and the pro-life pregnancy centers we represent in this case truthfully inform women about that choice," Dalton added. "We are urging the court to affirm the pregnancy centers' freedom to tell the public about this lawful, life-saving treatment."