Welcome to the TMS Weekly Dispatch for July 3, 2026, 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 last week's edition, click here. We wish you a very happy Independence Day weekend on this special 250^th anniversary of our nation’s founding!

Here's the latest from the past week:

CALIFORNIA APR TRIAL—WEEK TWO UPDATE: The second week of trial in People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions continued this week in Alameda Superior Court in Oakland, CA before Judge Patrick McKinney.

Day 3: TMS Special Counsel Paul Jonna cross-examined the State’s expert witness, Dr. Mitchell Creinin—an abortionist, UC Davis medical researcher, founding member of the Society of Family Planning, and lead researcher on a never-completed 2020 UC Davis study on Abortion Pill Reversal.

Day 4: TMS Special Counsel Paul Jonna continued the Defense’s cross examination of the State’s expert witness, Dr. Mitchell Creinin.  

Day 5: The State continued its direct examination of its statistics expert, Dr. David Glidden. TMS Executive VP & Head of Litigation Peter Breen cross-examined the witness.

Day 6: Jor-El Godsey, President of Heartbeat International, took the stand to provide testimony.

The trial is scheduled to continue through July in largely in half-day sessions, four days a week. Follow us on social media to receive daily case updates.  

MEDIA ROUNDUP - NATIONAL COVERAGE OF “THE PRO-LIFE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY”: Our California APR trial continues to draw significant media attention. Here is a roundup of recent coverage:

·  Peter Breen, TMS Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation, joined Teresa Tomeo on EWTN's Catholic Connection to discuss the trial and what is at stake for pro-life free speech nationwide. Listen to the interview here.

·  OSV News correspondent Simone Orendain published a detailed report on the trial, syndicated across Catholic media outlets including Angelus News and the Catholic Review. The article highlighted quotes from Breen, who called the case “the pro-life ‘trial of the century,’” and TMS Special Counsel Paul Jonna, who warned that the AG's legal theory poses “a threat to free speech and civil society far beyond this case.” Read the full report.

· Just the News published an in-depth report featuring an interview with Heartbeat International Vice President of Communications Andrea Trudden, who noted that the AG is seeking the maximum $2,500 penalty for every woman who called the Abortion Pill Rescue Network hotline, including the women who will testify at trial that APR saved their pregnancies. Read the full article.

·  The Daily Caller News Foundation, WORLD, Live Action, California Globe, California Family Council, and Pregnancy Help News have also covered the trial. [KP1]

Thomas More Society also published the full text of the defense's opening statement, delivered by Paul Jonna on June 24. Read it here.

TMS FILES AMICUS BRIEF IN LOUISIANA v. FDA ABORTION PILL CASE: On June 22, Thomas More Society filed an amicus brief on behalf of Heartbeat International in State of Louisiana v. FDA, now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The case challenges the FDA's 2023 changes to the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for mifepristone, which eliminated the requirement for in-person dispensing and allowed the abortion pill to be prescribed and shipped by mail without a physician visit or an ultrasound.

The friend-of-the-court brief presents data from Heartbeat International's Abortion Pill Rescue Network showing the real-world consequences of these changes. When the APRN began operating in 2018, nearly 100% of women seeking help reported having received an ultrasound before beginning a chemical abortion. By 2023, that number had dropped to just 62%, leaving nearly four in ten women without critical screening for ectopic pregnancy, gestational age, and pregnancy viability. The brief also documents a dramatic rise in abortion drugs obtained outside the medical system. In 2020, only 1% of APRN contacts reported receiving chemical abortion drugs from the internet, friends, or family. By 2023, that figure had risen to 22%. By 2025, it was 46%.

The brief argues that the FDA's loosened regulations have lowered the standard of care for pregnant women, increased the risk of coerced and forced abortions as pills become easier to obtain without medical oversight, and undermined the authority of states to protect preborn life, in violation of the principles the Supreme Court affirmed in Dobbs.

LAST CHANCE - DEFENDING THESE TRUTHS SUMMER CAMPAIGN ENDS TOMORROW: Thomas More Society's Defending These Truths summer campaign ends on July 4, and it’s your last chance to have your gift matched, dollar for dollar, up to $250,000.

For 250 years, every generation has been called to defend the self-evident truths upon which this nation was founded. Now it is our turn. What we accomplish together today will determine whether those truths endure for the next 250 years. Government officials at every level are acting as though they are the source of our most fundamental rights, granting them to those who comply and stripping them from those who don't. Thomas More Society exists to remind every court and every government official that this is not what our Founders intended.  

Your gift directly supports the fight on three fronts:

• Defending the right to life and the free speech of pro-life ministries who share the truth...
• Protecting religious liberty so that every American's right to freely worship and exercise their beliefs is always guaranteed…
• And safeguarding parental rights against every threat to the family, ensuring that mothers and fathers, not government officials, have the final word in their children's upbringing.

Every dollar you give by July 4th will be matched 100%. Give our nation a birthday gift by doubling your impact today.