Culture of Life Family Services v. Rob Bonta

Thomas More Society attorneys are leading a federal lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta on behalf of Culture of Life Family Services (COLFS), a Catholic nonprofit that operates COLFS Medical Clinic—a state licensed community health clinic.

Founded in 2001, COLFS provides compassionate, high-quality, life-affirming, and holistic healthcare for patients with or without insurance across three locations throughout San Diego County. COLFS is suing Attorney General Bonta for his attempts to shut down Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) services. Through lawfare targeting pregnancy centers and pregnancy help organizations that share information about APR, Attorney General Bonta is unconstitutionally chilling the First Amendment rights of pro-life ministries like COLFS.

Attorney General Rob Bonta refuses to recognize a woman’s right to reverse an abortion in progress when she has changed her mind about the procedure. In September 2023, despite the proven success of APR, Bonta filed a lawsuit in state court against Heartbeat International and RealOptions Obria Medical Clinics to stop the promotion and advertising of APR services.  

COLFS’s medical director, Dr. George Delgado, devised the APR protocol for reversing the effects of mifepristone and began to advise doctors on APR. Given the demonstrable life-saving potential of APR, in May 2012, Dr. Delgado set up a website and hotline to educate pregnant women who seek to reverse the effects of mifepristone about APR—to provide them with practical support and resources and to connect them with licensed medical professionals able to provide the protocol.

This effort became known as the Abortion Pill Rescue© Network. In April 2018, to ensure expansion of the Abortion Pill Rescue Network and increased public awareness of the APR protocol, COLFS transferred it to Heartbeat International. In the face of aggressive and targeted prosecution brought by Attorney General Bonta against other pro-life ministries promoting APR in California, COLFS is seeking to prevent a lawsuit against itself by suing in federal court for declaratory and injunctive relief establishing that sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal is constitutionally protected.