A federal appeals court ruled this week that New York pro-life pregnancy centers may continue informing women about abortion pill reversal, rejecting Attorney General Letitia James’ attempt to curb the centers’ speech.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court order protecting the centers’ First Amendment rights, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) reported Dec. 1.
The dispute stems from a 2024 lawsuit James filed in state court, accusing Heartbeat International and 11 New York pregnancy centers of violating consumer-protection laws by promoting progesterone as a way to counteract the first drug in a chemical abortion. James argued the centers were making “false and misleading” claims about a treatment she said is unproven.
Several of the centers responded by suing James in federal court, saying she was targeting their constitutionally protected speech. In August 2024, a federal judge sided with the centers and temporarily blocked James from enforcing the law while their First Amendment case proceeded. She appealed that ruling earlier this year.
ADF, which represents some of the centers, argued that the First Amendment “clearly protects the right to speak and hear” about the treatment and its potentially life-saving effects.
“Many women regret their abortions, and some change their minds after taking the first abortion drug and want to try to save their unborn babies’ lives,” ADF Senior Counsel Caroline Lindsay said. “They should be allowed to hear about this option and make that choice.”
The appeals court agreed, concluding the centers’ speech is noncommercial and fully protected. The judges noted the centers do not provide progesterone themselves, receive no financial benefit, and only refer women to licensed medical providers.
Progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone used for decades to support early pregnancy and reduce miscarriage risk, has been used as an abortion pill reversal method. ADF cited multiple studies showing a 64-68% success rate when the hormone is taken soon after mifepristone.
As CatholicVote previously reported, the Abortion Pill Rescue Network data found that more than 7,000 babies have been saved through the protocol.
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