This week, a federal judge in New York has once again sided with pro-life pregnancy centers by issuing an order stating that two pregnancy center networks are free to promote the abortion pill reversal (APR) protocol and say that it is “safe and effective” while their lawsuit moves forward. The judge’s preliminary injunction consolidates this legal challenge under his previous ruling from August 2024 that temporarily blocked New York Attorney General Letitia James from targeting 51 other pro-life pregnancy centers for promoting that an abortion in progress can be safely reversed. In that ruling, the judge stated the First Amendment protects a pregnancy center’s right “to speak freely about [the] APR protocol.”
The preliminary injunction protects Summit Life Outreach Center and The Evergreen Association from the state’s attempts to silence them with threats, intimidation, and prosecution under the state’s false advertising law. New York’s attorney general claims APR is “unproven” and has accused pregnancy centers across the state of fraudulent business practices and false advertising. However, Summit and Evergreen allege the state’s actions violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments and that James’ illegal targeting of pregnancy centers unconstitutionally censors their speech about the safety and efficacy of abortion pill reversal. In the previous ruling, District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. stated that pregnancy centers are “likely to succeed on the merits” with their Free Speech claims since restricting speech about APR “casts a chill” on the First Amendment.
The APR protocol can reverse the effects of the abortion pill Mifepristone if a woman changes her mind within 72 hours after taking the drug. Mifepristone starves the baby to death by blocking the naturally-occurring progesterone that helps a woman’s body sustain the baby. The APR protocol consists of giving extra progesterone within 72 hours to “outnumber and outcompete” the abortion drug so the baby can survive. Despite James’ claim that the protocol in unproven, studies show that it has saved more than 5,000 unborn babies and has a success rate of up to 64-68%.
The injunction order specifically bars the state from interfering with pregnancy centers when they are making APR-related statements in advertising, social media, and other resources to the public or to women “considering or in the midst of a chemical abortion.” The order outlines that pregnancy centers can:
- Make statements “using the terms ‘Abortion Pill Reversal’ or ‘APR’ related to chemical abortions.”
- Make statements “referring to the APR Hotline or AbortionPillReversal.com.”
- Make statements “indicating that Abortion Pill Reversal (or APR), or progesterone is safe.”
- Make statements “that Abortion Pill Reversal (or APR), or progesterone, is effective.”
According to Dr. William Lile, who is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and who has delivered thousands of babies, progesterone is “bio-identical” and “as natural as it can possibly be” to what a pregnant woman produces. Dr. Lile told Liberty Counsel that he has personally reversed the abortion pill 15 out of 19 times (a 78 percent success rate) and that abortion pill reversal protocol has safely reversed Mifepristone thousands of times across the nation.
More information about reversing the abortion pill can be viewed here.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “The abortion pill reversal protocol gives a woman a chance to save her unborn baby by safely reversing an abortion. The government does not have the power to chill the free speech of pregnancy center staff and take away a woman’s option to safely stop an abortion. New York’s attempt to censor live-saving treatment is blatantly unconstitutional and should be permanently struck down.”
