After New York took abortion off the ballot this election season, New York Attorney General Letitia James is grasping for straws to keep abortion at the forefront by suing Heartbeat International, among 11 other pro-life organizations, over Abortion Reversal Pills’ (APR) “false medical claims.” 

Before we dissect their flaky claims, look at what they’re asserting. 

According to the Office of the New York State Attorney General’s press release, they’ve claimed Heartbeat International made “false and misleading statements to advertise an unproven treatment they call ‘Abortion Pill Reversal.’ Heartbeat and the crisis pregnancy centers—whose mission is to prevent people from obtaining abortions—advertise ‘Abortion Pill Reversal’ (APR) as a safe and effective treatment that they claim can ‘reverse’ medication abortions. In reality, abortion cannot be ‘reversed,’ and there is a glaring lack of scientific evidence to support APR’s safety and effectiveness. The only clinical trial conducted to evaluate APR had to be halted due to concerns about patient safety. Major medical associations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) have cautioned that APR is not backed by science and does not meet clinical standards.” 

There’s enough misinformation about APR to go around, so let’s dissect each claim, one at a time.  

Claim #1: Pro-Life Organizations Have Made “False” and “Misleading” Statements About an Unproven Treatment 

To evaluate James’ statements, let’s see what Heartbeat International says.  

They claimed APR saves lives, stating, “If a woman has regrets after taking the first pill, the pregnancy may be saved by the Abortion Pill Rescue Network.” 

So clearly, Heartbeat International is making a bold claim: regret your pregnancy? We can reverse it. The New York Attorney General’s Office says statements such as these are “misleading, “false,” and “unproven.” 

64-68% of babies are saved through APR with no birth defects. With the available data, 5,000 babies have been rescued from Chemical Abortion Pills. That sounds like proof – not an unproven doctor’s doodle sold to women. And yes, these numbers are based on studies, which we’ll talk about later. 

Claim #2: Abortions Can’t Be Reversed 

The numbers above clearly show this isn’t true. But to understand what abortion reversal is, one must understand Chemical Abortion Pills, also known as RU0486, which is a two-drug system that ends a human life in the womb. While the first pill starves the baby by blocking progesterone, the second causes contractions to expel the baby.  

In between the two pills, the mother can still change her mind if she acts fast. APR is simply an increased dose of progesterone, and it commonly used for pregnant women to decrease the chance of miscarrying.  That sounds exactly like a reversal.

Claim #3: There’s No Scientific Evidence for Abortion Pill Reversal

 On Heartbeat International’s website, they listed six separate studies about the overall positive effects of progesterone, including a 2018 study (already referenced), including the already mentioned findings:  

• 64%-68% of the pregnancies were saved through Abortion Pill Reversal  
• There was no increase in birth defects  
• Lower preterm delivery rate than the general population 

More recently, the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) released a study in 2021 analyzing the efficacy and safety of APR, citing the successful use of progesterone all the way back to the 1950s for women’s fertility. Their study concludes with the following:  

“Multiple studies throughout the world continuously produce positive results regarding the use of progesterone in pregnant women. Progesterone has been shown to help reduce the risk of miscarriages and lower the rates of preterm birth. APR is a cutting-edge application of this time-tested, FDA-approved treatment used for decades to provide women who regret taking the first abortion pill with a chance to reverse the effects and ultimately save their pregnancies.” 

Dr. George Delgado, one of the APR pioneers talked with Students for Life of America (SFLA) President Kristan Hawkins about the common misconception that there’s no scientific evidence and therefore isn’t safe.  

READ: New on Explicitly Pro-Life: Meet the Doctor Who Helped Pioneer Abortion Pill Reversal

“It’s not dangerous at all. In fact, there is no evidence whatsoever or any research studies showing that Abortion Pill Reversal carries any danger,” Delgado told Hawkins. “Studies have shown that the birth defect rate is about the same as the general population. Therefore, it does not increase the risk of birth defects, and the preterm birth rate is actually lower than the general population (2.7 percent versus 10 percent in the U.S.).”  

The Head Scratcher (But Not Really): Why Do Abortion-Loving Medical Professionals and Politicians Attack Life? 

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) are cautioning against APR, even though they put out two studies supporting the use of progesterone, which according to Charlotte Lozier Institute, they claimed, “progesterone is a potential treatment for women whose previous miscarriage or bleeding was the result of low progesterone.” 

Whether the ACOG is politically motivated can’t be definitively proven, but one thing’s evident: their logic isn’t consistent. If progesterone is treats low progesterone, why can’t it also be used when progesterone is blocked due to Chemical Abortion Pills? And it’s not just SFLA saying it – doctors like Dr. Delgado are.  

It also stands to reason that if the New York Attorney General is going to brutally attack APR for being “dangerous” based on unreliable reasoning, James should be even more brutal on Chemical Abortion Pills, which cause injury, infertility, and death – a proven claim.  

But it doesn’t fit the abortion agenda. Medical institutions like ACOG and politicians like James’s love abortion more than life itself, and while they’re nitpicking APR, thousands of preborn New York citizens are killed, and James doesn’t seem to care.  

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