A federal judge ruled last week that pro-life pregnancy centers in New York are free to inform pregnant women about the abortion pill reversal (APR) protocol, which consists of the natural hormone progesterone, and its life-saving potential to stop the chemical abortion pill from killing an unborn baby.
In National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. James, District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. wrote, “The First Amendment protects [the pregnancy centers’] right to speak freely about APR protocol and, more specifically, to say that it is safe and effective for a pregnant woman to use, with her doctor, to reverse the effects of a first chemical abortion pill and, thereby, help save the life of her unborn child.”
In May 2024, New York Attorney General Letitia James claimed APR was “unproven” and sued 11 pro-life pregnancy centers within the Heartbeat International network. She accused them of fraudulent business practices and false advertising and the suit attempts to censor free speech regarding reversing an abortion in progress. However, in a countersuit, the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA), which has a network of 51 New York pregnancy centers, sued James for illegally “targeting” pregnancy centers to censor pro-life viewpoints she disfavors, such as informing women about progesterone treatment.
Judge Sinatra sided with NIFLA stating the pregnancy centers are “likely to succeed on the merits” with their Free Speech claims and that “they are suffering irreparable harm each day that their Constitutional freedoms are infringed.” Judge Sinatra issued a preliminary injunction that bars New York’s Attorney General from taking any legal action against NIFLA, or its associated pregnancy centers, while the case continues in federal court.
In his order, Judge Sinatra quoted former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy stating the U.S. Constitution stands “against the idea” that our nation needs a “Ministry of Truth,” a clear reference to George Orwell’s 1949 novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” He stated that “[s]ociety ‘has the right and civic duty to engage in open, dynamic, rational discourse’” and any exercise of power by the government to mandate “content-based” restrictions “casts a chill” on the First Amendment.
“…the government, even with the purest of motives, may not substitute its judgment as to how best to speak for that of speakers and listeners; free and robust debate cannot thrive if directed by the government,” wrote Judge Sinatra. “And this is particularly true ‘in the fields of medicine and public health, where information can save lives.’”
Judge Sinatra concluded, “The State, moreover, conceded that no one has been harmed by [NIFLA’s] statement. Indeed, the ‘State cannot engage in content-based discrimination to advance its own side of the debate.”
In 2018, NIFLA also won in court over pro-abortion politicians attempting to control abortion-related speech. The pro-life network challenged then-California Attorneys General Kamala Harris and later Xavier Becerra over a California law requiring it to refer women for abortion against the staff’s deeply-held religious beliefs. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in NIFLA v. Becerra that the California law was unconstitutional and that the state could not compel the pregnancy centers to express pro-abortion content.
As a result of that ruling, Liberty Counsel won a permanent injunction in Mountain Right to Life v. Becerra which now protects three pro-life crisis pregnancy centers in Southern California from government censorship and First Amendment infringement.
In its most recent lawsuit, NIFLA explained how the abortion pill 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 after taking Mifepristone to “outnumber and outcompete” the abortion drug so the baby can survive. Despite James’ claim that the protocol in unproven, NIFLA cited studies that show that it has saved more than 5,000 unborn babies and has a success rate of up to 64-68%.
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.”
