(October 24, 2023 – Sacramento, California) Heartbeat International and the Thomas More Society have joined forces against a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, seeking to dismantle the life-saving Abortion Pill Rescue® Network. On September 21, Attorney General Bonta filed a lawsuit against Heartbeat International, a global organization that supports an expansive network of pregnancy centers, charging the pregnancy help ministry with “false advertising” in a discriminatory effort to stop the organization’s Abortion Pill Reversal services. Also named in the lawsuit is RealOptions Obria Medical Clinics, which provides Abortion Pill Reversal services at its five Bay-area locations. Thomas More Society has been retained to defend both Heartbeat International and RealOptions.

“Attorney General Rob Bonta is bringing down the full force of the California government, at the beck and call of the abortion lobby, to silence and bury information that helps women save their preborn children,” said Paul Jonna, Thomas More Society Special Counsel and Partner, LiMandri and Jonna LLP. “This disgraceful attempt to strong-arm a life-affirming organization into submission is a threat to mothers who know the precious gift of life and all like-minded organizations.”

“The intent of Attorney General Bonta’s lawsuit against Heartbeat International seems to be to censor life-saving information from women regarding Abortion Pill Reversal, despite compelling evidence of the safety of progesterone and its effectiveness in countering the abortion drug, mifepristone,” stated Jor-El Godsey, President of Heartbeat International. “We know that Abortion Pill Reversal helps women who have changed their minds about abortions they’ve already started. The Attorney General cannot simply ghost the myriad of women who have done so in California—women like Rebekah, Emily, and Karen, or their children who survived a chemical abortion.”

The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court, seeks to shut down Heartbeat International’s life-affirming work, through its Abortion Pill Rescue Network which provides the Abortion Pill Reversal protocol to women seeking to counteract their chemical abortion. The legal action also intends to halt the RealOptions clinics from offering the same interventions. The Abortion Pill Rescue Network integrates helpline, nurses, progesterone providers, and ongoing care. Bonta alleges that the pro-life pregnancy help ministry engages in “false or misleading statements” and “unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices.” This litigious effort seeks to block Heartbeat International and its affiliates from sharing their science-based, life-affirming message about the benefits, success, effectiveness, and safety of Abortion Pill Reversal.

“Despite overwhelming evidence of its safety and effectiveness, this lawsuit makes outrageously false claims against Heartbeat International,” Jonna explained. “Attorney General Bonta’s lawsuit aims to hide life-saving information from women regarding Abortion Pill Reversal. It’s a desperate attempt to eliminate any competition of the well-funded abortion lobby with which Bonta has proudly partnered with in legal action throughout his career.”

“By making war against Heartbeat International, the State of California is denigrating women,” added Jonna. “Women deserve to know their options with Abortion Pill Reversal, and this lawsuit is a threat to female autonomy and fairness. Simply put, women deserve the right to try and save their pregnancies. Pregnant mothers are entitled to the truth about the options regarding reversing the abortion they have found themselves regretting.”

Godsey and Jonna both pointed out that more than 4,500 women have had successfully saved their children through Abortion Pill Reversal—noting that the cutting-edge protocol is rooted in a time-tested, FDA-approved treatment used for decades to prevent miscarriage and preterm birth. Heartbeat International features the stories of mothers and children supported by the Abortion Pill Rescue Network at heartbeatinternational.org/aprn-lives-saved.

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