California Brings First-Time Lawsuit Against Anti-Abortion Movement’s ‘Abortion Pill Reversal’ Scheme

“Those who are struggling with the complex decision to get an abortion deserve support and trustworthy guidance—not lies and misinformation,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

10/9/2023
by JENIFER MCKENNA and CARRIE N. BAKER, Ms. Magazine

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit on Sept. 21 against a chain of California crisis pregnancy centers and its national parent organization for false advertising of “abortion pill reversal” (APR)—an unproven and possibly dangerous high-dose progesterone intervention the anti-abortion movement claims can “reverse” an underway medication abortion. This is the first lawsuit in the country challenging the CPC industry’s promotion of APR.

AG Bonta’s complaint charges RealOptions Obria, a five-site crisis pregnancy center chain in Northern California, and the Ohio-based Heartbeat International with violating California’s False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition law by falsely advertising “abortion pill reversal” as safe and effective. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to block further dissemination of the misleading claims, in addition to other remedies and penalties available under state law.

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2023/10/09/abortion-pill-reversal/

09.10.2023

News

abortion pill reversal

abortion reversal

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

American Medical Association

anti-choice deception

anti-choice disinformation

anti-choice lies

anti-choice misinformation

anti-choice misogyny

Betsy Butler

California Women’s Law Center

crisis pregnancy centers

Designed to Deceive

False Advertising law

George Delgado

Heartbeat International

Mary Davenport

Obria

pregnancy care centers

Privacy International

progesterone

RealOptions Obria

Rob Bonta

Society for Family Planning

Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine

The Alliance of State Advocates

Unfair Competition law

UK – Inside the anti-abortion protests plaguing clinics amid buffer zone delays

Anti-abortion protests and calls to the police have ramped up since so-called buffer zones were voted in, writes Maya Oppenheim

Sept 16, 2023
Maya Oppenheim

Standing outside a Chinese takeaway plastered with funfair adverts in south London, two women can be seen clutching pink and blue plastic rosary beads as they solemnly recite prayers under their breath. In front of them, a framed print of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is strapped to an easel next to a sign which reads “Love them both” and a photo of a smiling baby.

“Pregnant, Need Help?” another poster reads. “Housing Help, Financial support, Moral support offered here, Just ask us or call 0800 096 2518”. The women have set up camp opposite an abortion clinic in Brixton to protest against terminations being legal in the UK. Across a busy road, another member of their group stands directly outside the clinic clasping leaflets to hand to those going inside.

Continued: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/anti-abortion-protests-buffer-zones-b2409985.html

USA – Anti-Abortion Centers Spent Over $600M in One Year. That’s the Tip of the Iceberg.

Documents reviewed by Rewire News Group suggest the total may have been closer $1 billion. Where is all that "crisis pregnancy center" money going?

AUG 30, 2023
GARNET HENDERSON, Rewire News Group

“Crisis pregnancy centers,” or anti-abortion centers, are known for deceiving and manipulating people seeking information about abortion. They often pose as legitimate abortion clinics, intentionally obscuring their real purpose. They promote dangerous medical misinformation such as abortion pill “reversal.” They also discourage safer sex practices, and because few of them are actual medical facilities, they don’t adhere to medical standards for confidentiality and safety.

For example, a Massachusetts woman sued a CPC in June for failing to diagnose her ectopic pregnancy, which resulted in an emergency surgery and the loss of her fallopian tube. Months earlier, a Kentucky nurse came forward to reveal that a CPC where she had volunteered was failing to properly sterilize its transvaginal ultrasound equipment.

Continued: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2023/08/30/anti-abortion-centers-spent-over-600m-in-one-year-thats-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/

USA – The oxymoron at the heart of GOP abortion ‘compromise’

Opinion by Mary Ziegler
Tue August 29, 2023

The South Carolina Supreme Court’s recent abortion decision is a reminder of the importance of state constitutional law in the post-Roe era. By upholding a six-week ban virtually identical to one struck down by the same court in January, this ruling means that South Carolina will go from a state that welcomed abortion seekers from across the region to one where the procedure is available for only as little as a week after a person confirms a pregnancy.

But the court’s decision — and the legislative strategy behind the law that the court upheld — is also a perfect reflection of an evolving Republican strategy to push back on abortion: paying lip service to the importance of reproductive liberty with exceptions or rhetorical flourishes while offering no real access at all.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/29/opinions/abortion-ban-south-carolina-gop-strategy-ziegler/index.html

29.08.2023

Opinion

anti-choice deception

anti-choice disinformation

anti-choice hypocrisy

anti-choice legislative strategy

UK – Anti-abortion directory goes offline following our investigation

NHS and councils remove references to ‘Pregnancy Choices Directory’ but campaigners say they should never have been there

Nandini Archer
18 August 2023

A shadowy database directing pregnant people to anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centres” has been shut down following an openDemocracy investigation.

We revealed earlier this month that the ‘Pregnancy Choices Directory’ website appeared to be a rebranded version of Care Confidential – a charity that wound itself up following a scandal nine years ago. The site included a list of 23 CPCs across Britain. Similar centres have been found to be little more than a front for religious groups trying to talk people out of having abortions, sometimes using misinformation.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/local-councils-nhs-crisis-pregnancy-anti-abortion/

USA – ‘Pro-Life’ Propaganda Wants to Fool You About Abortion Pills

We must be free to make our own abortion decisions—including how and where we access abortion pills.

AUG 15, 2023
ERIN MATSON

As we enter year two of a post-Roe v. Wade world, it would be easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of attacks anti-abortion activists have launched since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned abortion rights. From abortion bans, to clinic harassment, to the criminalization of pregnant people and medical providers, it can be hard to keep track of all the ways in which reproductive freedom is under attack.

Particularly now, as we await the outcome of a lawsuit brought by abortion opponents to target mifepristone, one of two drugs used in a medication abortion, anti-abortion activists are using junk science to target medication abortion in a backdoor attempt to circumvent democracy and advance an aggressive nationwide abortion ban.

Continued: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/2023/08/15/pro-life-propaganda-wants-to-fool-you-about-abortion-pills/

15.08.2023

Commentary

abortion pills

anti-choice deception

anti-choice junk science

anti-choice lies

anti-choice misogyny

anti-choice propaganda

Canada – How pro-life bias is limiting reproductive healthcare access in rural Ontario

Right-to-life groups are increasing stigma and barriers to preventing and eliminating pregnancies

By Mary Baxter
August 2, 2023

After the condom broke, Amanda’s* boyfriend hurried to the drugstore to get the morning-after pill. Anxiety eddied as Amanda waited for him to return. The teenage couple had experienced pregnancy scares before but had never resorted to emergency contraception. A baby couldn’t be in the picture yet, Amanda knew.

In 2018, Amanda was 19 years old. The teen from Chatham-Kent, a rural municipality in southwestern Ontario, had dropped out of high school in Grade 11. They struggled with mental health and lived with their parents. They were unemployed. Their boyfriend, the same age, hit them.

Continued: https://broadview.org/abortion-access-rural/

02.08.2023

Commentary

Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

abortion stigma

access to abortion

Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights

anti-choice bias

anti-choice deception

anti-choice lies

anti-choice misinformation

anti-choice stigma

April Rietdyk

B.J. Kivell

British Columbia Humanist Association

Carolyn Martin

Chatham-Kent Public Health

Christine Button

emergency contraception

Frédérique Chabot

Jen Belcher

Joyce Arthur

Lambton Public Health

Ontario Medical Association

Ontario Pharmacists Association

Refuge CPC

Right to Life Kent

sexual and reproductive health services

Sheila dunn

Shore Centre

TK Pritchard

Women’s College Hospital

UK – Is scandal-hit anti-abortion charity operating in secret under new name?

NHS websites are still signposting pregnant people to ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ despite warnings from campaigners

Nandini Archer
1 August 2023

An anti-abortion charity that claimed to have shut down following a scandal nine years ago may have resurfaced as a directory of so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centres’ (CPCs), an openDemocracy investigation has discovered.

And at least half a dozen government websites are still signposting people to the controversial centres, despite accusations that workers at some CPCs try to talk vulnerable people out of having abortions.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/government-nhs-crisis-pregnancy-anti-abortion/

Words Matter: Why We Must Demand Accuracy And Combat Anti-Abortion Language

Aug 1, 2023
By Amanda Seller, President MSI United States

The battle for reproductive rights in the United States and elsewhere is being fought on uneven ground because of anti-choice misinformation and misleading language. Now, a year after the end of Roe v. Wade, it’s more important than ever to speak out against anti-choice lies.

The anti-choice movement is playing a game of disinformation, using emotive language that eschews the reality of modern, safe abortion to manipulate people into support. And they’re winning.

Continued: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeseq/2023/08/01/words-matter-why-we-must-demand-accuracy-and-combat-anti-abortion-language/?sh=7d5d55527af8

01.08.2023

anti-choice deception

anti-choice disinformation

USA – Fake abortion clinics ‘bigger than ever’

‘The Daily Show’ co-creator Lizz Winstead brought her group Abortion Action Front to Chicago to warn of traps set for the unwary.

By Neil Steinberg
Jul 16, 2023

Lizz Winstead was 17, a high school senior in Minnesota. “I was a Catholic teenager who found myself pregnant, making deals with God and myself,” said Winstead, now 61. “Pregnancy tests weren’t available.”

There was no internet. She saw an advertisement on the side of a bus about free pregnancy tests. She went to the address, an old house, oddly.

Continued: https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2023/7/16/23796601/abortion-clinics-fake-reproductive-rights-column-steingberg