Democratic Attorney General Letitia James of New York sued multiple crisis pregnancy centers on Monday over their promotion of the abortion pill reversal.
James targeted 11 crisis pregnancy centers in the state, accusing them of “misleading” pregnant women about whether medication abortion can be reversed, according to the court filing. James claimed that the centers, along with organization Heartbeat International, engaged in “deceptive acts or practices” and “false advertising.”
“Abortions cannot be reversed. Any treatments that claim to do so are made without scientific evidence and could be unsafe,” James said in a Monday press release. “Heartbeat International and the other crisis pregnancy center defendants are spreading dangerous misinformation by advertising ‘abortion reversals’ without any medical and scientific proof.
Heartbeat International highlights on its website 17 cases from its “Abortion Pill Rescue Network,” which connects women who have taken an abortion pill with a medical provider to begin the reversal process.
Heartbeat International, in conjunction with a collective of pregnancy help organizations, has taken legal action against the Office of New York Attorney General Leticia James. pic.twitter.com/vw0I0YsgI2
— Heartbeat Int’l (@HeartbeatIntl) May 2, 2024
“Medication abortion is an essential component of reproductive health care and has been an important tool in expanding abortion access in New York, particularly in rural and underserved communities where procedural abortion may be unavailable or more difficult to obtain,” the New York Attorney General’s office wrote in its filing. “In light of the increased use of medication abortion over the last two decades and its increasing importance in the reproductive health landscape, this safe and effective regimen for terminating early pregnancies has become a primary target for opponents of abortion, who not only seek to deter pregnant people from choosing to have a medication abortion in the first place, but also increasingly seek to deter pregnant individuals who have begun the process of a medication abortion from completing that process.”
The filing seeks an order requiring the plaintiffs to remove any content that “violate New York Executive Law § 63(12) and General Business Law Article 22-A, §§ 349 and 350” as well as bar them from “engaging in the fraudulent, deceptive, and illegal acts or practices.”
In 2022, James demand that Google censor search results showing crisis pregnancy centers. She also sued the U.S. division of JBS, a meatpacking company, in February claiming that it lied about the effects its operations had on climate change.
James also promised to investigate then-President Donald Trump during her 2018 campaign for attorney general, during which she labeled him an “illegitimate president.” She sued Trump in September 2022, alleging he overstated the value of real estate holdings in order to obtain loans.
