New York targeting of pregnancy center advertising violates free speech, judge says

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 27, 2024 / 17:27 pm (CNA).

A New York court has temporarily blocked the state’s attorney general’s efforts to keep a group of faith-based pregnancy centers from promoting abortion pill reversal medications.

The ruling, in the form of a preliminary injunction, comes after Attorney General Letitia James sued 11 faith-based pregnancy centers in the state because their promotion of abortion pill reversal was allegedly spreading “false and misleading” information.

Issued on Aug. 22 by Judge John Sinatra of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, the ruling means that the pregnancy centers can continue promoting these medications as the case proceeds in the courts.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases and is representing the pregnancy centers in the case, called the ruling a victory for both freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

“Pro-life centers should be free to offer lifesaving info to women who want the choice to save their child,” ADF said in a post on X. “The court was right to affirm this while the case proceeds.”

What is abortion pill reversal?

Abortion pill reversal — sometimes referred to as APR — is a medication meant to stop a chemical abortion after the process has already been initiated.

While the chemical abortion pill mifepristone works by cutting off progesterone, essentially starving the unborn baby to death, abortion pill reversal can restore progesterone flow in the womb, reversing the effects of mifepristone.

What did the ruling say?

Sinatra wrote that the pregnancy centers are “likely to succeed” in arguing that the attorney general’s actions violate their First Amendment right to free speech.  

“The First Amendment protects plaintiffs’ [the pregnancy centers’] right to speak freely about [abortion pill reversal] protocol and, more specifically, to say that it is safe and effective for a pregnant woman to use in consultation with her doctor,” Sinatra wrote. 

Sinatra also said that “a preliminary injunction is in the public interest” and that “pregnancy centers’ statements about the availability of APR [abortion pill reversal] are of interest to women who have begun a chemical abortion and seek ways to save their unborn child’s life.”

For these reasons, Sinatra temporarily blocked any attempt by the state to keep the pregnancy centers from promoting abortion pill reversal in any way whether online, in person, or through print resources.