In a fierce legal battle spanning two coasts, Thomas More Society is defending the rights of pro-life organizations to offer hope to women through Abortion Pill Reversal (APR).  

At the center of this battle is Heartbeat International, a global network of pregnancy help ministries dedicated to supporting women who regret taking the abortion pill, and dozens of other pregnancy centers promoting or offering the protocol. Facing aggressive lawfare from the attorneys general of New York and California, Thomas More Society is fighting to safeguard free speech, protect life-affirming alternatives to abortion, and protect pregnancy centers across the nation.  

The Golden State Wields Brass Knuckles: Squaring Up with Rob Bonta

A legal firestorm began in California in September 2023 when California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against Heartbeat International and RealOptions Obria Medical Clinics, a California-based affiliate.  

Bonta accused the organizations of “false advertising” and “unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent business practices” for promoting APR, a science-backed protocol offered through Heartbeat’s Abortion Pill Rescue® Network.  

His end goal? A permanent injunction to silence and shutter down pro-life pregnancy centers, permanently.  

Thomas More Society quickly stepped in. On February 6, 2024, attorneys filed hundreds of pages of arguments and evidence in the California Superior Court, asking for the case to be dismissed, demonstrating why Bonta’s weaponization of the law is completely unconstitutional. Here’s why:  

• The First Amendment protects Heartbeat International’s right to advocate for APR and inform women about abortion alternatives

• The court cannot resolve what they describe as a “battle of scientific experts” over APR’s merits—a matter considered beyond judicial purview.  

• California’s own ‘Reproductive Privacy’ Act and Constitution shields Heartbeat and RealOptions from state interference in supporting women who wish to continue their pregnancies.

“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,” Thomas More Society Executive Vice President and Head of Litigation Peter Breen.

In June 2024, a judge declined to dismiss the case, setting the stage for a long legal battle. As the originator of the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network, Heartbeat International connects women nationwide with medical professionals who can assist in reversing a chemical abortion and saving their babies—a service Bonta seeks to destroy in a show of favoritism towards the abortion industry. Paul Jonna, Special Counsel for Thomas More Society, called the lawsuit a “desperate attempt by Bonta to eliminate any competition to the well-funded abortion lobby.” To be sure, the abortion lobby profits when women are denied the truth about APR and other free, life-affirming resources.  

The Empire State Strikes Back: Confronting Letitia James

The fight escalated in April 2024 when New York Attorney General Letitia James sent Heartbeat International and a dozen pregnancy help organizations “Notice of Intention to Sue” letters. James alleged that their promotion of APR constituted “repeated and persistent misleading statements,” threatening legal action under New York’s false advertising laws. Her harassment came amid a widespread campaign to suppress pro-life voices following the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the return of the abortion debate to the states.

Heartbeat International and its pregnancy center allies didn’t wait for James to move first. On April 30, 2024, Thomas More Society attorneys filed a preemptive lawsuit in the Supreme Court of New York, Monroe County, seeking to block James’ threatened prosecution. Representing Heartbeat, CompassCare, and ten other pregnancy ministries, attorneys argued that her actions violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments, the New York Constitution, and state civil rights law. The complaint demanded a court injunction to protect New York pregnancy ministries’ constitutional rights to share information about APR.

James struck back with her own lawsuit on May 6, 2024, filing in Manhattan’s New York County. After a jurisdictional tug-of-war Justice Sam Valleriani consolidated the cases in Monroe County on May 24, 2024, handing Thomas More Society a small-but-mighty victory by rejecting James’ desperate bid to pull the fight into her preferred arena.

Peter Breen celebrated the ruling, slamming James for her “unconstitutional witch-hunt” and vowing that Thomas More Society will “strenuously defend our clients’ right to offer facts, as well as hope.” Like those of Rob Bonta, AG James’ claims are baseless and have no legal standing.

The fight heated up on the federal front, when, in September 2024, a U.S. district court judge issued a second injunction against James, reiterating that her efforts to silence pro-life ministries unconstitutionally chilled their First Amendment rights. For Heartbeat International and Thomas More Society, this was a critical win, affirming an essential mission to provide hope to women and babies through the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network. But the battle doesn’t end there.  

Pregnancy Centers: The Heart of the Pro-Life Movement

Nonprofit pregnancy centers like Heartbeat International, CompassCare, and RealOptions exist solely to serve women and save preborn lives. With nearly 3,500 affiliated pregnancy help locations worldwide, including the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network, Heartbeat has become a target for abortion advocates seeking to monopolize the narrative—even at the cost of forcing a woman to complete an abortion she doesn’t want. When women choose life, abortion businesses fail.  

President of Heartbeat Jor-El Godsey emphasizes the stakes: “New York State laws protect abortionists and abortion on demand up until birth. Now they are targeting those who assist a woman in exercising her right to continue her own pregnancy.”

The National Fight

These two states are part of the larger war waged by pro-abortion state politicians to suppress abortion alternatives and silence pregnancy centers. The outcome of these contentious legal battles will echo far beyond New York and California.  

For Thomas More Society, Heartbeat International, and pro-life pregnancy centers nationwide, this fight isn’t just about APR—it’s about protecting the right to choose life, and the right to offer hope in literal life-or-death moments.

The fight continues, and together, we’ll win.