A federal judge this week New York Attorney General Letitia James It's a preliminary injunction barring her from taking action against a pregnancy clinic that promotes abortion pill reversal on the grounds that it would restrict protected free speech.
The ruling comes amid a lawsuit filed by the Thomas More Association on behalf of two pro-life ministries: Summit Life Outreach Center and the Evergreen Association. The lawsuit alleges that James targeted the pregnancy center and threatened to prosecute her for sharing information about reversing abortion pills, which she claims has not been proven.
“These small nonprofit organizations exist to serve women with compassion and provide alternatives to abortion,” said Peter Breen, executive vice president and director of litigation at the Thomas More Society. , it behooves that speech to be elevated, not chilled,” Peter Breen, executive vice president and director of litigation at the Thomas More Society, said in a statement to Fox News. digital. “This court order makes clear that Ms. James cannot censor pro-life speech simply because she dislikes pro-life groups.”
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New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference at National City Hall. James is suing several pro-life pregnancy centers over their push to reverse abortion pills. (Countess Jemal/Getty Images, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation)
FOX News Digital has reached out to James' office.
Judge John Sinatra Jr., a Trump appointee, wrote in his order that James is prohibited from blocking the clinic from promoting the abortion pill reversal on its website and social media platforms. Ta.
A medical abortion requires you to take mifepristone followed by a misoprostol treatment a few days later, but if you change your mind and want to continue with the pregnancy, you can stop the second dose and use progesterone instead. Pregnancy clinics advise that taking it will help you continue your pregnancy.
In May, Ms. James filed a lawsuit against 11 pregnancy centers that facilitated abortion pill revocation procedures, alleging they engaged in fraud, deceptive business practices, and false advertising. She claimed that these groups “spread dangerous misinformation through advertising without any medical or scientific evidence.”
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Mifepristone and misoprostol pills are photographed on Wednesday, October 3, 2018 in Skokie, Illinois. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Summit Life Outreach Center and the Evergreen Institute, which are not named in James' lawsuit, say her targeting of other pregnancy centers has put them at risk. said.
Barbara Vidak, executive director of Summit Life Outreach Center, said her staff “works tirelessly to provide life-affirming options to women in need.”
“A federal judge has ruled that Attorney General Letitia James’ legal attack on the state’s pro-life departments has given pregnant mothers their First Amendment right to share the message of reversing life-saving abortion pills.” We are very pleased to say that during a chemical abortion, you have a second chance to choose life.”
Breen said pro-life ministries have a constitutional right to share information about abortion pill reversal and that “their message is saving thousands of lives.”
The Thomas More Society represents 11 clinics in a separate case. Last month, a federal judge in the case ruled that the clinics are protected by the First Amendment.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a press conference. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
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“Based on a prudent application of the elements of a preliminary injunction, particularly as they relate to Plaintiffs' First Amendment free speech claims, our motion for a preliminary injunction is granted,” the judge wrote. .
Fox News Digital's Peter Aitken contributed to this report.
