Arguments were concluded at the end of March at the Supreme Court of the United States in the cases of Danco Laboratories, L.L.C. v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. Both cases are challenging the unfettered access and distribution of the so-called abortion pill approved by the FDA. Danco Laboratories is the manufacturer of Mifepristone, which is the main drug used to perform chemical abortions. Pro-Life organizations have ramped up their efforts to promote Abortion Pill Reversal (APR), a procedure that works to stop the chemical process caused by Mifepristone in order to allow the baby to remain viable. 

Leftist attorneys general from New York's Letitia James to Illinois' Kwame Raoul to California's Rob Bonta have been targeting these organizations in an effort to silence their advocacy on behalf of preborn babies, as well as the mothers. In September 2023, Bonta proudly proclaimed they were suing Heartbeat International and Obria for advertising abortion reversal services.

I’m suing 5 crisis pregnancy centers and an anti-abortion group for misleading patients about so-called “abortion pill reversal”— a risky experimental protocol.

Those struggling with the decision to get an abortion deserve trustworthy guidance — not lies. https://t.co/amzHNT6KB0 pic.twitter.com/g8iNstqxgU

— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) September 21, 2023

In a state that is allowing smash-and-grab robberies to go unchecked and violent criminals to run amok, it's a strange flex to go after pro-life centers for wanting to save both the lives of children and mothers. Part of the SCOTUS hearings in March involved the testimony of medical doctors and women who had undergone chemical abortions, defending whether they had standing to join in the lawsuit and outlining why restoring safeguards on the use of the abortion pill is a necessity.

Dr. Christina Francis, an OB-GYN and board member of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), is one of the doctors petitioning the court to enjoin the FDA. Dr. Francis laid out the facts that the FDA, Planned Parenthood, and abortion advocates hide in order to market the abortion pill to women. Just the reality that it is a two-step process that requires days between steps and that it takes longer than a surgical procedure is veiled by abortionists and their allies. This is one of the reasons why many women find themselves changing their mind midstream. 

Dr. Francis has testified before Congress about the reality of using the abortion pill. Realities, such as the rate of complications being four times higher than a surgical abortion. Dr. Francis said that the complications of a chemical abortion may include hemorrhaging and heavy bleeding, the risk of infection, and pelvic inflammatory disease, all of which would require emergency intervention and surgery. Then, there is the risk that the pregnancy is an ectopic pregnancy (1 in 50 cases), which increases the risk of harm to the woman.

Abortion drug safety removals by the FDA "increase the likelihood that a woman will mistake a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy for normal abortion-drug side effects."

See WSJ here: https://t.co/M03nyfvxa7 #aaplog#aaplogprolifeobgyns#aaplogprolifemedicalprofessionals pic.twitter.com/N1PHTqsqkj

— AAPLOG (@aaplog) May 3, 2024

Lies and misinformation are what the abortion zealots are peddling and what pro-life organizations and pro-life OB-GYNs are seeking to combat. Despite the legacy media's narrative, APR is neither new nor controversial. As far back as 2017, Dr. George Delgado, another pro-life OB-GYN, had researched and written peer-reviewed articles about the use of APR to mitigate a chemical abortion. It has only received heightened awareness since the 2022 SCOTUS decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health because Planned Parenthood and the death lobby have increased their demands that anyone should be able to purchase abortion pills without medical oversight or supervision. Mifepristone is just the first pill of a two-part process to destroy the life forming in the womb, and if employed in time, APR has the ability to mitigate this first part of the process.  

Dr. Francis spoke with the Colson Center and told the host that APR has been shown to have a 70 percent success rate, with a documented 4,500 babies alive because of this intervention. The recent case against Dr. Dermot Kearney, an Irish OB-GYN working in Great Britain, also confirmed the validity of the use of APR. Dr. Kearney has used APR to save at least 20 babies and was targeted by Dr. Jonathan Lord, director for abortion provider Marie Stopes International (now MSI Reproductive Choices). Dr. Lord made a complaint with the General Medical Council (GMC) and accused Dr. Kearney of "imposing" his anti-abortion beliefs on a patient and using unproven science. In May of 2021, Dr. Kearney was restricted from using APR for 18 months, which was reduced to nine months. The investigation could not find a single woman who would speak against Dr. Kearney. In March 2022, GMC dropped the charges, and Dr. Kearney was allowed to continue this life-saving practice.

After ten women provided witness statements in support of Dr Kearney and not a single one of the women he helped complained, the GMC chose to dismiss the case saying: “The case examiners have considered the information provided by MSI Reproductive Choices, openDemocracy, Safe Abortion Action Fund UK and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and decided to conclude this case with no further action”.

In witness statements to the GMC, one woman said: “He was amazing. He was not at all judgmental. He was very professional… He was not trying to sell me something I did not want. He told me how he could help me. He was not at all pushy…”

The GMC concurred with this assessment saying that he left women “well informed about the treatment, was not judgemental, did not attempt to push his own views on them, and was overall considered to have been highly supportive”.

Dr Kearney said: “I am relieved and delighted to have been exonerated. I have been the victim of a coordinated campaign by senior figures in the abortion industry who have been determined to prevent women in urgent need from accessing abortion reversal treatment”.

“At all times my concern and priority has been the women who have been referred to me for urgent medical support. I am humbled by the support they have shown me in return”.

“The truth about abortion reversal treatment must now be told and medical professionals who are able and willing to support women with the treatment should be allowed to do so without fear”.

So, seeking to return safeguards to the way the United States distributes the abortion pill and letting women know that they have the option to reverse their chemical abortion decision should be a part of "choice" and reproductive health. Thankfully, Heartbeat International, with the help of the Thomas More Society, is fighting back against the state of California.

The hundreds of pages of argument and evidence represent the most comprehensive legal counterattack by the pro-life movement against recent legal maneuvers by state government officials like Bonta who are trying to interfere with and stop the efforts of pregnancy centers to help women who regret and want to reverse their chemical abortions.

Heartbeat International, an international network of thousands of pregnancy centers, provides referrals to medical providers for women who are seeking to reverse their chemical abortions through its Abortion Pill Rescue® Network, which is the target of Bonta’s lawsuit, along with the RealOptions pregnancy centers in California, which provide Abortion Pill Reversal services. Abortion Pill Reversal is the process of providing supplemental progesterone to counteract the anti-progesterone effects of the first pill (mifepristone) of the two-pill chemical abortion regimen.

“Women undergoing chemical abortions deserve the truth: even after starting a chemical abortion, they may still be able to save their babies,” remarked attorney Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President & Head of Litigation. “California and its Attorney General Rob Bonta are illegally and unconstitutionally seeking to rip away ‘choice’ from women in dire need by attacking pregnancy help ministries like Heartbeat and RealOptions, to shut down their promotion of Abortion Pill Reversal. Abortion Pill Reversal provides real hope for women who want to stop their abortions and continue their pregnancies. Today’s massive legal filings mark the most ambitious and broad-based counterattack by the pro-life movement against the efforts of state officials, like Rob Bonta, who intend to prevent women from accessing this potentially life-saving treatment option.”

SCOTUS watchers and legal pundits seem fairly confident that the justices will rule in favor of the FDA and Danco Laboratories in allowing unfettered access to Mifepristone. If that is indeed the case, the work of Heartbeat International, AAPLOG, Dr. Dermot Kearney, and other pro-life doctors and organizations will be even more critical.

Dr. Kearney spoke with Life Institute soon after the decision and talked about the great resistance to APR, especially in the United States.

WATCH: