By Hank Russell | Long Island Life & Politics – visit lilifepolitics.com
Photo: This web page explaining the benefits of abortion pill reversal (APR) appears on the websites of many pregnancy care facilities, which, along with Heartbeat International, are being sued by the attorney general’s office.
Photo Courtesy of the Attorney General’s Office
The Care Center, doing business as Soundview Pregnancy Services, has been sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James’ (D) Office, claiming the center disseminated misleading claims to pregnant women that abortions can be reversed by taking a pill. Soundview joins ten other pregnancy care centers and Heartbeat International as defendants.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed on May 6 in New York State Supreme Court, Heartbeat International and the other pregnancy care facilities made “false and misleading statements” which “constitute persistent fraud and illegality under Executive Law 63(12) and deceptive business and false advertising practices in violation of sections 349 and 350 of the General Business Law,” according to a press release issued from James’ office.
Soundview provides services in East Meadow, Centereach, and Riverhead.
Heartbeat and the eleven crisis pregnancy centers named in James’ lawsuit aggressively advertise “abortion pill reversals” (APR) on their websites, social media, and other promotional materials using false and misleading claims that lead patients to think that APR is a proven and safe treatment with minimal risks, despite the lack of reliable scientific evidence, for example:
• “Can the abortion pill be reversed? The simple answer is yes! If done in time.”
• “There is an effective process called abortion pill reversal* that can reverse the effects of the abortion pill and allow you to continue your pregnancy, but time is of the essence.”
• “Using the natural hormone progesterone, medical professionals have been able to save 64-68% of pregnancies through abortion pill reversal.”
“Abortions cannot be reversed. Any treatments that claim to do so are made without scientific evidence and could be unsafe,” James said. “Heartbeat International and the other crisis pregnancy center defendants are spreading dangerous misinformation by advertising ‘abortion reversals’ without any medical and scientific proof. Amid the increase in attacks on reproductive health care nationwide, we must protect pregnant people’s right to make safe, well-informed decisions about their health. Your reproductive health care decisions are yours and yours alone, and my office will always protect New Yorkers from those who push a scientifically unproven and potentially life-threatening intervention.”
On April 22, James sent notices of intent to sue to Heartbeat International and the other pregnancy centers over their APR claims. Eight days later, the Thomas More Society, a conservative nonprofit public interest law firm, filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court on behalf of Heartbeat International, CompassCare and other pregnancy care facilities, claiming that James’ lawsuit is an act of intimidation and a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the New York Constitution and state civil rights law.
“New York State laws protect abortionists and abortion on demand up until birth,” added Heartbeat International President Jor-El Godsey. “Now they are targeting those who assist a woman in exercising her right to continue her own pregnancy. It is unconscionable to see the abortion industry and its paid-for politicians go so far as to insist she complete an abortion she no longer wants.”
According to its website, Heartbeat International has a worldwide network of more than 3,000 pro-life pregnancy help organizations and provides life-affirming help to all pregnant women who feel that abortion is the only option.
The organization noted on its website that APR “remains a safe and effective option, supported by scientific evidence and the lived experiences of women who, after initiating a chemical abortion, successfully reversed it and now cradle their babies in their arms.”
Long Island Life & Politics reached out to Heartbeat International and Soundview Pregnancy for additional comment but did not hear back as of press time.
In response to the lawsuit, Peter Breen, the executive vice president and head of litigation for the Thomas More Society, said in a statement, “Today, New York Attorney General Letitia James has decided to proceed full steam ahead with her witch-hunt against New York’s pregnancy help organizations. Delivering on her threat of lawfare against our life-affirming clients, Ms. James has filed a baseless lawsuit in Manhattan—where none of our clients are located—to unconstitutionally silence their pro-life message. In doing so, Ms. James is seeking to keep in the dark women who desire to urgently try to continue their pregnancies.”
Breen added that James should “turn her ire” to Planned Parenthood and similar groups which “continue to disseminate inaccurate, misleading, and even false information, about the risks and dangers of the chemical abortion process to women who pay for their services—and have thus far not been targeted with threats or prosecution by Ms. James’ office.”