New York temporarily barred from taking action against groups for promoting abortion pill 'reversal'

Citing free speech rights, a federal judge has temporarily blocked New York's attorney general from taking enforcement action against certain pregnancy counseling centers for promoting what critics say is an unproven method to reverse medication abortions.

U.S. District Judge John Sinatra Jr. in Buffalo issued a preliminary injunction against state Attorney General Letitia James and her office on Thursday. The order says James' office cannot take legal action against two centers and a related association while their lawsuit against James is pending in federal court.

The lawsuit accuses James of unfairly targeting anti-abortion groups because of their viewpoints, including their promotion of a protocol called the “Abortion Pill Reversal.” It cites a lawsuit James' office filed in state court in May against another anti-abortion group and nearly a dozen other pregnancy counseling centers for promoting abortion medication reversals.

James' case against the other groups follows a similar lawsuit in California and other legal action in states such as Colorado regarding unsubstantiated treatments to reverse medication abortions.

Medication abortion, the most common way to end a pregnancy, involves taking two different drugs — mifepristone and misoprostol — days apart.

James' office says the anti-abortion groups are advising people who have taken mifepristone not to take the follow-up of misoprostol and instead receive repeated doses of the hormone progesterone.

James' office says the treatment has not been approved by federal regulators, and major medical associations have warned that the protocol is unproven and unscientific.

Sinatra, nominated to the court in 2019 by then-President Donald Trump, a Republican, wrote in his decision that the First Amendment protects free speech, even when that speech contains false statements. He also said the two pregnancy counseling centers and related association are likely to prevail in their lawsuit against James.

The centers have a First Amendment right to “speak freely” about the reversal protocol and say it is safe and effective to use in consultation with a doctor, the judge said.

“Plaintiffs are irreparably harmed each day that their First Amendment freedoms are infringed,” Sinatra wrote.

He added the preliminary injunction “serves the public interest by allowing women to access and receive information that may lead to saving the lives of their unborn children.”

James' office had opposed the preliminary injunction, calling it in court documents “a collateral attack” on the office's pending lawsuit against the other pregnancy counseling centers. Her office also said it has authority to “enforce state protections against consumer fraud and false advertising.”

“Abortions cannot be reversed, and any advertising that suggests otherwise is false and misleading,” James' office said in a statement Friday evening. “Attorney General James is committed to defending New Yorkers’ right to make informed decisions about their health free from deceptive practices that could put them at risk. This decision is disappointing and we are considering our legal options.”

The plaintiffs that sought the injunction include the National Institute for Family and Life Advocates and two of its member centers — Gianna’s House in Brewster north of New York City and Options Care Center in Jamestown in western New York. The Virginia-based anti-abortion group has member pregnancy counseling centers across the country, including 51 in New York.

The preliminary injunction only applies to those plaintiffs, and not the centers named in James' lawsuit in state court.

Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative group representing the plaintiffs in court, hailed the judge's ruling.

“Women in New York have literally saved their babies from an in-progress chemical drug abortion because they had access to information through their local pregnancy centers about using safe and effective progesterone for abortion pill reversal," Caleb Dalton, the group's senior counsel, said in a statement. "But the attorney general tried to deny women the opportunity to even hear about this life-saving option.”

In court documents, James' office said there is no valid evidence that abortion pill reversal is safe or effective in increasing the chances of pregnancy, and that the use of progesterone in the process has never been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.