California Attorney General Rob Bonta Sept. 21 announced a lawsuit against two organizations over their alleged “fraudulent and misleading” advertisement of a procedure called abortion pill reversal (APR).
“That’s why our office has launched a lawsuit to fight on behalf of patients, who deserve truthful, accurate, and complete information about the services they are receiving. We seek to stop the defendants from further disseminating their lies and deceptive statements,” according to an email statement from the attorney general’s (AG) office sent to The Epoch Times.
According to a RealOptions spokesperson, the AG’s office did not provide any prior notification to the group before initiating the lawsuit.
“We disagree with the allegations in this lawsuit ... which the California AG never gave us an opportunity to address before filing the action, and we look forward to addressing and refuting them in court,” Chief Executive Officer Valerie Hill told The Epoch Times.
In a statement, Heartbeat International said their organization was likewise not informed about the lawsuit until after Mr. Bonta’s press conference on Thursday.
“Through our Abortion Pill Rescue Network hotline, we know that some women almost immediately regret their chemical abortion choice,” according the statement. “These women deserve the right to try and save their pregnancies. No woman should ever be forced to complete an abortion she no longer wants.”
Medication abortion, which was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000, now typically involves a two-drug combination—mifepristone and misoprostol—taken within 24 to 48 hours of each other to end a pregnancy.
Patients are given an ultrasound to ensure the fetus is viable and instructed to take progesterone, a naturally occurring hormone essential for nurturing and maintaining a pregnancy, to counteract the effect of the abortion pill, according to the website.
However, Mr. Bonta said in a press release that APR is “an unproven and largely experimental procedure.”
“While medication abortion has been proven by decades of research to be exceedingly safe and reliable, no credible research so far has supported the safety or efficacy of APR,” he said.
Additionally, he said the organizations failed to mention potential side effects, such as severe bleeding, for those who attempt the procedure.
In contrast, Ms. Hill said the medication employed in APR has a decades-long history in medical usage and is considered “safe and effective.”
“Progesterone ... is a tried-and-true medication [used] for decades since the 1950s for repeated miscarriage,” she said.
The review continued saying, “Physicians should disclose this treatment option to their patients at the time of informed consent.”
Both organizations said they have yet to receive official notice regarding the allegations.
