Heartbeat International, a Columbus-based pregnancy help network with more than 4,000 affiliates worldwide, is facing trial in California for its promotion of the Abortion Pill Reversal (APR).
The trial, which began Wednesday, June 24, is held in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland, California. Heartbeat staff will testify in court on July 2 and July 6 and 7.
The APR-related case is the first to go to trial.
California attorney general Rob Bonta is requesting $20 million in fines against Heartbeat and $640,000 from RealOptions, a California Bay-area affiliate of Heartbeat, for claims of false and misleading advertising of the APR.
“The implications extend far beyond Heartbeat International,” said Danielle White, general counsel for Heartbeat.
“A ruling in California’s favor would hand attorneys general across the country a roadmap to penalize any non-profit organization that provides women with information the state disagrees with.”
Heartbeat and RealOptions provide APR information to women who begin a chemical abortion via the abortion pill and no longer wish to have the abortion. Services are provided free of charge.
The abortion pill, a two-part regimen, includes mifepristone (RU-486), which blocks the effects of progesterone, suffocating the baby, and misoprostol, which causes the uterus to contract and expel the baby.
The APR, offered since 2012, uses progesterone, an FDA-approved natural hormone, to counter the effects of the first abortion pill. It can reverse the abortion if administered within 72 hours.
Heartbeat International operates the Abortion Pill Rescue Network and Option Line, a 24/7 helpline, to connect women with medical professionals trained to provide APR treatment. Option Line receives an average of 200 calls monthly from women desiring to reverse their abortion.
California argues the state can regulate non-profit organizations’, such as Heartbeat’s and RealOptions’, speech because they use testimonials, stories and donor-facing communications and fundraising about the APR to showcase their ministry’s impact.
Should the court side with the state, penalties would force the pro-life nonprofit organizations to bankruptcy. California ministries offering women abortion alternatives would be bankrupted and forced to shutter their doors permanently.
“California claims to fight for women’s choices, but seeking the ‘death penalty’ in fines to silence the charity she calls when she changes her mind is not freedom — it’s control,” said Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International.
“No mom should be denied the chance to save her own baby’s life. Heartbeat will always fight for a mother’s right to know and her right to choose life.”
Bonta first filed a lawsuit against Heartbeat International in September 2023 for advertising the APR.
Heartbeat, represented by the Thomas More Society, a national public interest law firm defending life, family and freedom, asked the California Superior Court to throw out the lawsuit. The court denied Heartbeat’s challenges.
The trial will include testimony from mothers who sought help from Heartbeat International and gave birth to children after reversing the abortion pill. California has not received complaints from women regarding the APR.
Progesterone has been prescribed to women during pregnancy since the mid-20th century.
The APR’s efficacy is supported by studies and thousands of obstetrics (doctors providing care to women during and after pregnancy) professionals. Statistics determine more than 8,000 lives have been saved by the APR.
Heartbeat International is the world’s largest network of life-affirming pregnancy help organizations, offering support, training and resources to empower women and families.