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

Colorado becomes the first state to ban controversial abortion pill reversals

As pills emerge as the latest front in the war over abortion, the practice of administering progesterone after mifepristone may soon be labeled as ‘medical misconduct’ in the state.

Claire Cleveland, KFF Health News
May 3, 2023

In Glenwood Springs, Colorado, registered nurse Katie Laven answers calls from people who’ve started the two-pill medication abortion regimen and want to stop the process.

“They are just in turmoil,” said Laven, who works at the Abortion Pill Rescue Network and answers some of the roughly 150 calls it says come in each month. “They feel like, ‘Well, maybe an abortion would make it better.’ And then they take the abortion pill and they’re like, ‘I don’t feel better. In fact, I feel much worse that I did that.’”

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2023/05/colorado-bans-abortion-pill-reversals/

The right is stealthily working to remove Americans’ access to abortion medication

A federal judge is poised to restrict mifepristone – even though the drug has been safely and effectively used in the US for more than 20 years

Moira Donegan
Thu 16 Mar 2023

This week a Republican-appointed federal judge weighed whether to grant an injunction that could remove mifepristone, the drug used in most American abortions, from the market nationwide. And the hearing almost happened in secret.

US district court judge Matthew Kacsmaryk had initially planned to keep Wednesday’s hearing in the case – in which a group of rightwing anti-abortion groups are suing the FDA to reverse its 20-year-old approval of mifepristone – quiet. In a conference call with lawyers for the anti-choice groups and the Department of Justice, Kacsmaryk asked attorneys not to disclose the existence of the hearing (“This is not a gag order,” he said repeatedly), and said that the event would only be made public late on Tuesday to minimize popular awareness. “It may even be after business hours.” The judge’s courtroom in Amarillo, Texas, is hours away from any major city. It was only because of a press leak that the hearing was known to the public at all.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/16/the-right-is-stealthily-working-to-remove-americans-access-to-abortion-medication

16.03.2023

Opinion

Alliance Defending Freedom

misoprostol-only abortions

Moira Donegan

self-managed abortion

Southern Poverty Law Center

USA – The Fight Over Abortion Is Far From Over. Here’s What Will Happen in 2023.

2023 is going to be a big year for anti-abortion policy: Anti-abortion activists could even harness a 19th-century law to curtail talking about abortion.

By Carter Sherman
December 26, 2022

If this is the year that Roe v. Wade fell, 2023 will be the year that kicks off what promises to be a years-long, state-by-state brawl between Americans who believe abortion is essential to freedom and Americans who believe the procedure is murder.

Come January, state legislatures across the country will open for business. Conservative lawmakers will try to narrow the last few avenues to abortion available in red states. Abortion rights activists, buoyed by their victories in the midterms, will push for more ballot measures. Many of these legislative and political showdowns will likely end up in the courts.

Continued: https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkg9p7/abortion

What Abortion Pill ‘Reversal’ Really Accomplishes

It’s more than an unproven medical treatment—it’s a view into the antiabortion movement’s larger project.

Sep 5, 2022

THE AMERICAN ANTIABORTION movement is on a full-court press to remake the nation in its image. In June, its decades-long campaign to install sympathetic Supreme Court justices paid off with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, which stripped away the constitutional right to abortion. Now, the movement is pushing for draconian personhood laws (legislation granting fetuses the same rights as people) in an effort to make abortion murder.

In some states, the push is already working. In Georgia, for example, a new law allows expecting parents to claim fetuses as dependents on their tax returns. These victories are the result of a shrewd, ambitious strategy. The rise of an experimental treatment known as abortion pill “reversal” is part of this plan. Although it might appear a peripheral concern—hardly anyone actually seeks out this treatment—it’s a distinctly revealing pet project. The story of the rise of abortion pill reversal contains the antiabortion movement’s blueprint within it.

Continued: https://www.wired.com/story/abortion-pill-reversal-essay/

How an unproven abortion ‘reversal’ treatment has advanced in the US

By Samantha Putterman
April 4, 2022

When Texas enacted a ban on abortions as early as six weeks into pregnancy, an international women’s health advocacy nonprofit organization saw a 1,100% increase in orders for so-called abortion pills.

The two-drug combination enables women to terminate their pregnancies within the first 10 weeks. Though the spike in demand has since leveled off at Aid Access, purchases hovered around 175% higher than usual in the months after the Texas law took effect.

Continued: https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/apr/04/abortions-reversible-how-unproven-abortion-r/

USA – As “Abortion Reversal” Laws Spread, Doctors and Scientists are Pushing Back

As “Abortion Reversal” Laws Spread, Doctors and Scientists are Pushing Back

August 27, 2019
by Rahima Nasa

When North Dakota passed its “abortion reversal” law, Tammi Kromenaker geared up for a fight.

This March, North Dakota joined a swell of states requiring doctors to tell patients that they can reverse medical abortions. The bill is based on a contested study that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology (ACOG) said doesn’t meet scientific standards.

Continued: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/as-abortion-reversal-laws-spread-doctors-and-scientists-are-pushing-back/

USA – Doctor claiming to ‘reverse’ abortion was told to stop using medical school’s name

Doctor claiming to 'reverse' abortion was told to stop using medical school's name
For years, Dr George Delgado falsely claimed an affiliation to a prestigious US medical school and his assertions about ‘reversal’ procedure have been denounced

Jessica Glenza in New York
Thu 25 Jul 2019

A doctor who has said he invented a procedure to “reverse” abortion has for years falsely claimed an affiliation to a prestigious US medical school, the Guardian can reveal.

A medication abortion or “self-managed” abortion, is an FDA-approved procedure and is administered through two doses of medicine over 48 hours. Medication abortions now represent nearly one-third of all abortions nationally, according to the Guttmacher Institute. There is no reversal procedure.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/25/revealed-doctor-reverse-abortion-trump-administration

USA – Inside The Dangerous Rise Of ‘Abortion Reversal’ Bills

Inside The Dangerous Rise Of ‘Abortion Reversal’ Bills
This year, five states have passed laws mandating that physicians tell patients their abortions can be reversed — even though evidence says otherwise.

By Melissa Jeltsen, HuffPost US
June 29, 2019

The number of states that require doctors to tell patients their abortions can be reversed with an experimental treatment doubled this year.

The rise of so-called “abortion reversal” bills has alarmed leading medical groups that say such legislation forces physicians to give misleading, unscientific and potentially dangerous advice to women, undermining the trusted doctor-patient relationship.

Continued: https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/abortion-reversal-bills_n_5d164c6ee4b07f6ca57cc6fc

USA – There’s no proof “abortion reversals” are real

There’s no proof “abortion reversals” are real.
This study could end the debate.

By Carter Sherman
Apr 17, 2019

Four states have laws on the books requiring doctors to tell people who want abortions that the procedure can be reversed. Another eight have introduced bills this year that would do the same.

There’s just one problem: There’s no conclusive evidence that the treatment behind the so-called “abortion reversal” works.

Continued: https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/j5wqqp/theres-no-proof-abortion-reversals-are-real-this-study-could-end-the-debate