Letitia James sued over ‘witch hunt’ against New York anti-abortion groups

Pregnancy centers in New York are challenging state Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, for attempting to trounce their efforts to promote abortion pill reversals, arguing her office is violating their First and 14th Amendment rights.

A coalition of Christian pregnancy centers represented by the Thomas More Society filed a lawsuit against James on Tuesday after the Democratic attorney general sent an April 22 letter to several anti-abortion groups accusing them of “repeated and persistent misleading statements and omissions” stemming from their support of abortion pill reversal methods.

“This is a political witch-hunt against small nonprofits that have selflessly served New York’s pregnant women and their children for over 50 years,” said Peter Breen, Thomas More Society executive vice president and head of litigation.

Abortion pill reversal methods can be undertaken in instances in which a woman changes her mind and seeks to reverse the effects of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in a drug-induced abortion process. Anti-abortion doctors handling patients who have taken mifepristone typically prescribe a dose of bioidentical progesterone to offset the effects of mifepristone.

The Thomas More Society’s preemptive lawsuit alleges that James is intentionally using her office to restrict the rights of anti-abortion activists. Several anti-abortion groups are named as plaintiffs, including Heartbeat International and CompassCare.

“Defendant James has no business butting into the intimate medical decision of an expectant mother, in consultation with the medical professional of her choice, to carry her pregnancy to term and save her unborn baby from the disastrous effects of mifepristone while there is still time to undo the effects of that powerful chemical,” the lawsuit states.

Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, argued it is “unconscionable” that New York would “protect abortionists and abortion on demand up until birth” but not the rights of anti-abortion groups.

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“Now they are targeting those who assist a woman in exercising her right to continue her own pregnancy,” Godsey added.

The Washington Examiner reached out to James’s office for comment.