Pro-Life Groups Hit Back Against New York AG Letitia James in Court, Allege Unfair ‘Witch Hunt’

A group of pro-life organizations that assist pregnant women are fighting back against a legal action launched against them by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

On April 22, James’ office sent “Notice of Intent to Sue” letters to Heartbeat International, CompassCare and other pregnancy help organizations over what it claimed were “repeated and persistent misleading statements and omissions in the advertising of the Abortion Pill Reversal (‘APR’) protocol.”

APR is what can take place when one of two abortion pills has been ingested and a woman decides she wants to keep her baby instead of killing the child.

In response to James’ action, the pro-life groups — represented by the Thomas More Society — filed a complaint Tuesday in state court arguing the attorney general’s actions violate the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, the New York Constitution and state civil rights law, according to a news release.

“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,” ‍Peter Breen, the Thomas More Society’s executive vice president and head of litigation, said in a statement.

Trending:

Watch: Sen. John Kennedy on Fire, Torches Climate Professor – ‘You Gonna Call Me a Sick F***?’

“Letitia James should be heralding these charities, not launching outrageously false claims against them under laws that don’t apply to their noncommercial speech,” Breen said.

“For decades, doctors have been prescribing supplemental progesterone for pregnant women at serious risk for miscarriage — but because this safe and long-established practice may actually reverse abortions, ideologues like Letitia James now want to squelch it,” he said.

Breen said the actions taken by James are a “transparent attempt to harass small pro-life charities into silence, targeting her political opponents because of their beliefs, in flagrant violation of the First Amendment.”

Should Letitia James be removed from office?

“We will fight back as long as it takes against Ms. James’ efforts to jeopardize the Christian and life-affirming missions of Heartbeat International, CompassCare, and all similar pro-life ministries in the State of New York,” he said.

The groups seeking an injunction to stop the attorney general’s office from proceeding with its campaign against the pro-life groups.

The complaint said her demands “are the latest development in her politically motivated campaign against pregnancy organizations in general.”

“This time, James targets Plaintiffs’ protected speech and activities engaged in for the sole benefit of pregnant women who have ingested-whether voluntarily or via trick or force-mifepristone, the first pill of the two-pill chemical abortion regimen, but wish to continue their pregnancies,” it said.

Related:

Tenn. Passes ‘Baby Olivia Act’ Requiring Public Schools to Show Students Unborn Babies’ Development

“Instead of celebrating the reproductive choice of these pregnant women who have decided to seek to preserve their pregnancies and bring their children to term and celebrating the work of New York’s pregnancy help organizations which empower them in the exercise of their rights, Defendant James has launched a public campaign of opprobrium against the organizations and the APR protocol,” the complaint said, noting the attorney general is attacking pro-life organizations in partnership with abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

While attacking organizations whose politics disagree with hers, it said, “James has taken no action against patently false and misleading statements about the safety and efficacy of chemical abortion by pro-abortion providers who enjoy her favor, including Planned Parenthood.”

Although the case is only focused on New York, the Rev. Jim Harden, CEO of CompassCare, said in a statement that James’ actionsshould be a major red flag for all Americans, wherever they stand in the abortion debate.”

“Conspiring to violate the constitutional rights of the politically disfavored sets an ominous precedent and, if allowed to stand, will only serve to dismantle American rule of law,” Harden said.


A Note from Our Deputy Managing Editor:

 

I heard a chilling comment the other day: “We don’t even know if an election will be held in 2024.” 

 

That wasn’t said by a conspiracy theorist or a doomsday prophet. No, former U.S. national security advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn said that to the founder of The Western Journal, Floyd Brown.

 

Gen. Flynn’s warning means that the 2024 election is the most important election for every single living American. If we lose this one to the wealthy elites who hate us, hate God, and hate what America stands for, we can only assume that 248 years of American history and the values we hold dear to our hearts may soon vanish.

 

The end game is here, and as Benjamin Franklin said, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

 

All of this means that without you, it’s over. We have the platform, the journalists, and the experience to fight back hard, but Big Tech is strangling us through advertising blacklists, shadow bans, and algorithms. Did you know that we’ve been blacklisted by 90% of advertisers? Without direct support from you, our readers, we can’t continue the fight.

 

Can we count on your support? It may not seem like much, but a Western Journal Membership can make all the difference in the world because when you support us directly, you cut Big Tech out of the picture. They lose control. 

 

A monthly Western Journal Membership costs less than one coffee and breakfast sandwich each month, and it gets you access to ALL of our content — news, commentary, and premium articles. You’ll experience a radically reduced number of ads, and most importantly you will be vitally supporting the fight for America’s soul in 2024.

 

We are literally counting on you because without our members, The Western Journal would cease to exist. Will you join us in the fight? 

 

Sincerely,

Josh Manning

Deputy Managing Editor

The Western Journal



Source link