Letitia James Accused of ‘Bullying’ in New Abortion Lawsuit

New York Attorney General Letitia James is facing a lawsuit from two anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers accusing her of “bullying” that allegedly violates their constitutional First Amendment rights regarding freedom of speech.

Nonprofits Summit Life Outreach Center and The Evergreen Association filed a lawsuit against James earlier this month over her prior lawsuit against pregnancy centers using an abortion reversal treatment that James’ office argued is “unproven.”

Crisis pregnancy centers are facilities that provide counseling and support for women who are dealing with unexpected pregnancies. They are used by anti-abortion advocates to dissuade women from getting an abortion and have sparked scrutiny as critics accuse them of being misleading and not informing women of their full range of options.

In May, James, a Democrat, sued 11 crisis pregnancy centers for allegedly using “false and misleading statements to advertise an unproven treatment they call ‘abortion pill reversal [APR].'” James’ office wrote that they advertise a treatment to “reverse” medication abortions, despite a “glaring lack of scientific evidence to support APR’s safety and effectiveness.”

“Amid the increase in attacks on reproductive health care nationwide, we must protect pregnant people’s right to make safe, well-informed decisions about their health,” James wrote in a May press release about the lawsuit. “Your reproductive health care decisions are yours and yours alone, and my office will always protect New Yorkers from those who push a scientifically unproven and potentially life-threatening intervention.”

The plaintiffs in the newest lawsuit were not included in the 11 centers that were previously sued by James. It was brought by the Thomas More Society.

However, the anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers argued that James “has unconstitutionally chilled the speech of pregnancy help organizations across the state,” with regards to the abortion pill reversal, referred to as “APR” in the complaint.

“In the absence of injunctive relief, Plaintiffs will imminently suffer irreparable harm from James’ retaliatory and viewpoint-discriminatory enforcement of the laws in violation of the First Amendment because of Plaintiffs’ inability to communicate information about the safety and effectiveness of APR directly to the general public or indirectly by linking its website to scientific studies supporting the safety and effectiveness of APR,” the complaint reads.

The complaint specifically argues that James does not have “evidence” of the plaintiffs using “misleading statements,” and that her view of what would constitute a misleading statement is simply her opinion. It accused her of “viewpoint discrimination and retaliation” against the centers because she disagrees with them.

It wrote that James “sought to conscript the courts into her unconstitutional scheme” after “bullying and blustering failed to silence APR-promoting speech in New York.”

Peter Breen, the executive vice president and head of litigation for the Thomas More Society, wrote in a statement announcing the lawsuit that he believes James has “flagrantly” violated the centers “constitutional rights by using lawfare to silence those who disagree with her.”

“Ms. James is on a witch-hunt to silence our pro-life ministries and shut down their constitutionally protected speech about Abortion Pill Reversal,” he wrote.

Newsweek has reached out to James’ office for comment via email.

James, meanwhile, has been a vocal supporter of reproductive rights. In March, she rallied at the U.S. Supreme Court to advocate for access to mifepristone, a pill used in more than 60 percent of abortions across the United States.