California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against several pro-life pregnancy centers Thursday, alleging that they are “misleading patients” by advertising an abortion reversal pill, according to a press release.
Heartbeat International (HI) and its affiliate, RealOptions pregnancy centers, suggest on their website that the use of progesterone can, in some cases, reverse the effects of a chemical abortion pill if the mother has only taken the first dose. Bonta argued that the treatment has “no credible scientific backing” and poses a potential risk for pregnant women, according to the press release. (RELATED: State Board Determines Abortion Reversal Pills Are Outside ‘Generally Accepted Practice’)
“Those who are struggling with the complex decision to get an abortion deserve support and trustworthy guidance — not lies and misinformation,” Bonta said. “And let me be clear: the evidence shows that the vast majority of people do not regret their decision to have an abortion — more than 95% of patients who undergo an abortion later say they made the right decision. HBI and RealOptions took advantage of pregnant patients at a deeply vulnerable time in their lives, using false and misleading claims to lure them in and mislead them about a potentially risky procedure.”
Access to reproductive healthcare—including abortion care—is your right in California.
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
If you believe you’ve been the victim of deceptive, misleading, or unlawful conduct, file a complaint with my office at https://t.co/hJNolDsGFd pic.twitter.com/UBPX4Mj0gQ
— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) September 21, 2023
Women looking to stop the effects of a chemical abortion are directed to contact one of the five RealOptions centers in California to obtain a prescription for progesterone to take within 72 hours, according to the centers’ website. A spokesperson for HI told the Daily Caller News Foundation that contrary to the attorney general’s claims, many women do regret their abortions and “deserve the right to try and save their pregnancies.”
“Heartbeat International learned through interview requests that the California Attorney General is suing to block us from ‘advertising Abortion Pill Reversal as safe and effective,'” the spokesperson said. “We have not been served at this point. Through our Abortion Pill Rescue Network hotline, we know that some women almost immediately regret their chemical abortion choice … No woman should ever be forced to complete an abortion she no longer wants.”
The medical community has expressed mixed opinions on the treatment, with The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists calling the procedure “unethical and unproven,” which Bonta cited in his lawsuit. The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), however, refuted ACOG’s claims and cited several studies that found the method was effective at saving the life of the child without harming the mother, according to a May press release.
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