‍Welcome to the TMS Weekly Dispatch for May 19, 2025—with the latest news and updates from the front line, to keep you in-the-know on all things Thomas More Society. If you missed the last edition of the Dispatch, you may read it by clicking here.

Here's a look back at the past week: 

TMS SENDS LETTER TO VIRGINIA TOWN DEMANDING IT UPHOLD PRO-LIFE MINISTRY’S FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS: TMS Senior Counsel Steve Crampton sent a demand letter to the Town of Vinton, Virginia last week requesting that the town allow a pro-life organization, Love Life, to use amplified sound on the public sidewalk while sidewalk counseling and sharing the pro-life message with abortion-minded women.  

As stated in the letter, Love Life’s outreach is permitted by the First Amendment, and Vinton’s Noise Ordinance holds a special exception for “[r]religious or political gatherings and other activities protecting by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,” which, of course, applies to Love Life’s ministry. Vinton’s refusal to allow Love Life to exercise its First Amendment rights is “untenable and unconstitutional,” according to the letter. If Vinton does not provide assurance that it will allow Love Life to continue its outreach in accordance with the law, further legal action will be taken by TMS.  

MARTHA COAKLEY TAKES PRO-LIFE SPEECH TO COURT (AGAIN): In one of TMS’s newest cases, Four Women Health v. Choose Life Marketing, former Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley serves as legal counsel for "Four Women," an abortion business attempting to silence Choose Life Marketing and the pregnancy centers it serves. This isn’t the first time Coakley has tried to stifle the pro-life message, however. Learn more about the case and Martha Coakley’s pro-abortion track record here.

TMS FILES FRIEND-OF-THE-COURT BRIEF IN ABORTION PILL REVERSAL CASE: On May 14, 2025, TMS attorneys filed a ‘friend-of-the-court' brief in NIFLA v. Bonta, a case challenging California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s chilling of pro-life pregnancy center speech about Abortion Pill Reversal (APR).  

This case arose after a state court lawsuit was filed by Bonta in 2023, against Heartbeat International and RealOptions Obria Medical Clinics, in which TMS attorneys are defending both HBI and RealOptions. TMS attorneys are also representing Culture of Life Family Services in a similar federal court lawsuit, arguing that Bonta’s lawfare is chilling the speech of pro-life ministries in California.  

The brief outlines how Bonta misrepresents the science backing APR, which has a 64-68% success rate in saving preborn children after their mothers take the first abortion pill. It also soundly rebuts Bonta’s attempt to shackle pregnancy centers with consumer fraud claims, emphasizing that California pregnancy centers’ claims about APR are true and that California’s consumer fraud law does not apply to them as they are nonprofits that serve women completely free of charge.

From the filing: 

“A victory for Bonta would be dangerous for science, which historically has advanced only by debate leavened with time...[and] even more dangerous for democracy, reviving a theory that government is the arbiter of truth, and that the wisdom of the master is greater than the wisdom of the masses.” 

A “COMPLETE REVIEW” – RFK JR. ORDERS MIFEPRISTONE INVESTIGATION: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Fr. Kennedy Jr. has ordered a “complete review” of the mifepristone abortion pill by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Last week, TMS joined dozens of leading pro-life organizations in calling on the HHS and FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary to revisit the dangers of the abortion pill, and we hope that the FDA will do the right thing and swiftly revise its guidelines on this harmful drug. TMS is at the forefront of the battle to protect Abortion Pill Reversal, a safe and effective protocol that women can use to reverse the effects of the chemical abortion pill.

A DO-OVER? MISSOURI TO VOTE ON PRO-LIFE AMENDMENT:  In November 2024, Thomas More Society was on the ground in Missouri fighting in court against Amendment 3, a radical “reproductive freedom” amendment that dramatically expanded abortion up through all nine months, voiding related pro-life protections and legalizing so-called ‘gender care’ for children, among a litany of other interventions. Unfortunately—owing largely to an aggressive misinformation campaign and the abortion industry’s deep pockets—Amendment 3 passed.  

However, now Missourians have a newfound hope and second chance to protect life in their state. Last Wednesday, Missouri lawmakers passed a voter referendum that would significantly chip away at Amendment 3's pro-abortion radicalism and restore the pro-life protections previously in place. The referendum is set to appear on the November 2026 ballot but could appear earlier if Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe calls a special election. TMS continues to monitor the referendum closely and hopes that Missourians will seize this opportunity to revitalize protections for the preborn in their state.