Unity and life-affirming fortitude were in full effect at a federal courthouse in Buffalo, New York, recently as pregnancy help personnel from across the state mobilized and stood together to defend pregnancy help and free speech, and push back against government overreach.
Representatives from more than a dozen pregnancy help organizations, some 50 people all in all, convened for a hearing in two of three cases involving New York Attorney General Letitia James and her attempts to quash speech on Abortion Pill Reversal.
James had threatened to sue Heartbeat International and 11 centers in April over sharing information on Abortion Pill Reversal (APR). Heartbeat and the centers, represented by Thomas More Society, sued to block her threatened legal action and James subsequently sued in early May. The case is being litigated in New York state court.
Later that month, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) sued James in federal court on behalf of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) and two New York centers.
Thomas More Society attorneys then filed a federal lawsuit against James on August 7 on behalf of two New York Centers.
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The August 15 hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York in Buffalo was for preliminary injunctions and consolidation in the latter two lawsuits, with attorneys from both ADF and Thomas More Society taking part.
There are upwards of 3,000 pregnancy centers in the U.S. They served families with material goods and services valued at $367 million in 2022. Pregnancy help centers in the U.S. have a 97.4% satisfaction rating from clients.
In New York in 2022, pregnancy centers served 17,269 women, men, and youth with a total estimated materials and services valued at $6,294,378.
Among the services offered by many pregnancy help organizations is Abortion Pill Reversal (APR), an updated application of a treatment used since the 1950s to combat miscarriage.
APR entails administering progesterone, the natural hormone in a woman’s body necessary for pregnancy to thrive, to counter the effects of mifepristone, the first drug in the two-drug chemical abortion regimen.
Chemical abortion works by mifepristone blocking the progesterone in the woman’s system, ending the child’s life. And then the second drug, misoprostol, taken a day or so later, causes the woman to deliver her deceased child.
If a woman acts quickly enough after taking the first abortion pill without having taken the second abortion drug, it may be possible to save her child through Abortion Pill Reversal.
Heartbeat has numerous first-hand accounts of mothers who have successfully reversed their chemical abortions and statistics show that more than 5,000 children have been saved through the APR protocol.
Regardless of whether their centers were a party to the lawsuits, pregnancy help staff, volunteers, and board members traveled to be present for the Buffalo hearing to support one another and support their freedom to serve women, children, and families.
Similarly, while the Heartbeat International case is in state court, representatives of Heartbeat, the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and the world, were on hand as well to back and encourage the centers in attendance for the hearing, which was followed by a press conference.
Care Net of Penn Yan Executive Director Mike Arington told Pregnancy Help News, “We're just here to show support for the parties in these suits.”
His center, located about two and a half hours from Buffalo, is part of the state case.
“I'm not sure I understand the logic behind it from their side,” Arington said. “It seems like it's simply information, and I don't know why you would block the providing of information that could help make a proper decision.”
James's effort to suppress discussion of APR concerns him.
“It's a freedom of speech issue,” Arington said. “The sanctity of human life is involved. To me, it is a situation where any information should be good information. It's ultimately the woman's choice, but I believe they should have all the available information before they make that choice.”
Tweet This: It's a freedom of speech issue. The sanctity of human life is involved - Center director on the importance of standing up to AG James on APR
Jessie Anderson is Executive Director of Options Care Center, which is part of the NIFLA v. James case.
“We are here today because the Attorney General is suppressing our freedom of speech, specifically regarding Abortion Pill Reversal,” Anderson said, “and we really want to be able to stand up for the pregnancy center community and move forward with these kind of services for our clients.”
Anderson thinks it's terrible that James is trying to quell pregnancy help organizations from trying to give women a choice. She questioned what would come next if James is successful.
“So, we have to stand up right now and really take a stand so that our freedom of speech isn't suppressed in the future either,” she said.
It was amazing to see how supportive the New York centers are of each other, she added.
“It's just amazing to see people rallying behind us,” Anderson told Pregnancy Help News. “It's really encouraging.”
“We're here to show support for the other Care Net Pregnancy Centers and centers across New York State,” said Bonnie Birkmeyer, executive director of Lockport Care Net Pregnancy Center. “We wanted to be here to protect the rights of women, to be able to talk openly about options as they're facing an unplanned pregnancy.”
Birkmeyer said what James is doing is confusing when looking at the whole concept of choice and the importance of women being able to have all the options available to them.
“It's hard to understand why when there is a process to be able to help women who want to save the life of their baby, why that's not being made available,” she said.
Melanie Schultz is an RN for the Lockport center and echoed what Birkmeyer said.
“I guess I would be so bold as to state I would love to see a world in which those who prescribe and administer the abortion pill would be required to give them all their choices and options,” she said. “A full panel education, including the fact that should they change their mind, there is an abortion pill reversal available to them. That is my prayer that the door be opened for that.”
Cyndi Perry is Resource Coordinator and Office Manager for CompassCare in Buffalo. The center is part of Letitia James v. Heartbeat International & CompassCare, et al.
“We are here today because we believe in the APR process,” Perry said. “It's proven and we've had quite a lot of success.”
“And we know that abortion is detrimental to women's health,” she said. “So, we want them to have all the options and to be able to reverse the decision they made in a moment of crisis.”
Regarding James’s actions toward centers offering information on APR, Perry said, “I feel like it's a bit of overreach and a suppression of our right to give patients information that is true and accurate.”
“It's frustrating because I see the devastation,” Perry told Pregnancy Help News. “I myself had an abortion and I know the devastation personally. So that's why I work in this field, to help women get the information that they need.”
“If you want to be pro-choice, then you should give women all the choices,” said Perry.
Care Net Pregnancy Center of the Hudson Valley Executive Director Deb Townsend traveled to Buffalo in support of the pregnancy help community, APR, and to help spare women the heartbreak of abortion. Her center is part of Letitia James v. Heartbeat International & CompassCare, et al.
“I came today because the Abortion Pill Reversal is a legitimate protocol,” she said. “It works, its success rate is significant, and a significant number of children have been saved through it.”
“And it's the truth,” she said. “We want to be able to offer this to women who have made a decision and regret their decision.”
“I had an abortion too and I wish I had had the chance to change my mind,” Townsend told Pregnancy Help News. “I wish I could have gotten off the table when my abortion was happening, and I didn't.”
That was in 1977, she said.
So, I've been doing this work for many years now,” said Townsend. “And this is an important case because if you really believe in choice, then why not allow them to choose?”
Townsend said she prays for James’s salvation every day.
“I pray that the Lord would change your heart because He's the author of all life,” she said. “He's the Creator of life and every life is valuable.”
Dorothea Nortz and Ellen Wilson serve on the Board of Directors for Summit Life Outreach Center, which is part of the federal case filed by Thomas More Society.
Nortz and Wilson wanted to show support for the center’s Executive Director Barb Bidak, whom they said is “fantastic.”
Summit Life Outreach Center Inc. & The Evergreen Association, Inc. v. Letitia James,
“We are pro-life, and we realize how wrong this abortion pill is, which I guess you can get in the drugstore or something,” Wilson said. “But if you want to reverse it, you can't. Does that make any sense?”
Nortz told Pregnancy Help News she thought what James is doing regarding pregnancy centers is “atrocious.”
“And as I say, we have to stand up against the evil of what they're trying to do,” she said. “They're trying to shut us down, and if they can shut these other pregnancy centers down …”
“We have to stand up and help them, and let the light shine on the truth,” Nortz said. “Get the word out there, that you're not just going to roll over.”
A decision was expected on the petitions for preliminary injunction within a few weeks.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is currently a party in brought by two state AGs concerning sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal.
