NY Attorney General Letitia James Can’t Silence Pro-Life Christian Groups, Court Rules
Fearing the State’s retaliation, the pro-life pregnancy groups say they took down statements informing women on how to reverse chemically induced abortions.
It was another terrible, no good, very bad day for New York Attorney General Letitia James earlier this week. Her campaign against pro-life pregnancy groups suffered a major setback when a federal appeals court blocked her from taking legal action to silence them.
The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) and two other pro-life pregnancy groups were likely to succeed on their claim that the AG’s threats to sanction their statements about abortion pill reversal (“APR”) violated their right to free speech, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled.
Its unanimous decision affirms a lower district court’s order barring James’ threatened enforcement actions against the NIFLA plaintiffs while the litigation proceeds. James appealed the decision to the Second Circuit.
AG James’ lawfare against pro-life pregnancy groups began last year when she sued 11 pregnancy centers in state court for sharing “misinformation” about APR.
While James has not sued the NIFLA plaintiffs, the state proceedings threaten their First Amendment rights, the groups assert in their preemptive lawsuit filed in federal district court in August 2024.
Fearing the State’s retaliation, the NIFLA groups say they took down similar statements informing women of the potentially life-saving treatment.
NIFLA is a non-profit network of faith-based pro-life organizations that offer free support services and resources to women facing unwanted pregnancies. The groups educate women on how to reverse medically induced abortion, a two-step process that begins with a dose of mifepristone. If a woman changes her mind and wants to continue her pregnancy, she can take progesterone supplements to counteract the mifepristone—the process known as “APR.”
“Progesterone is a safe and naturally occurring hormone that can be used to counteract the life-ending effects of mifepristone when taken in time,” NIFLA’s lawyers at the Alliance Defending Freedom state. “Multiple studies support the information the centers wish to provide women. Statistics show that abortion-pill reversal has likely saved more than 7,000 unborn lives, and current research demonstrates a success rate of up to 64-68%. ”
In its federal lawsuit, the NIFLA plaintiffs asked the court to bar AG James from censoring their noncommercial speech about APR, in violation of their First Amendment rights. The federal appeals court agreed with the district court’s decision, siding with the plaintiffs.
The NIFLA plaintiffs are allowed to bring a separate federal action to vindicate their own, independent First Amendment rights, Judge Joseph Bianco, a Trump appointee, wrote on behalf of the panel.
They were likely to succeed on their First Amendment claim, the court further held, because the State’s threatened regulation of their APR-related statements constituted content and viewpoint-based regulation of noncommercial speech that cannot survive strict scrutiny.
“It is undisputed that the NIFLA plaintiffs have made, and wish to continue to make, these statements based on their moral and religious beliefs, not based on any economic motivation,” Judge Bianco wrote, noting that NIFLA does not provide APR, does not charge for its support services, and receives no fee for its referrals to doctors providing APR.
AG Letitia James’ lawsuit is part of a broader blue-state battle on pro-life pregnancy centers. On Tuesday, the lawyer representing New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin was taken to task by Justices at the U.S. Supreme Court who were skeptical of the state’s efforts to compel pro-life medical centers to disclose anonymous donor lists—an assault on First Amendment free association rights.
Overall, it was a bad week for the blue states:
It’s shaping up to be a bad week for blue-state AGs who like to bully pro-life pregnancy centers.
– Today, NY’s Letitia James lost a unanimous ruling at the 2nd Circuit, over her attempt to silence & punish pregnancy centers who inform women about abortion pill reversal… pic.twitter.com/maLwKM3zM8
— Kristen Waggoner (@KristenWaggoner) December 1, 2025
For now, the appeals court ruling secures the NIFLA groups’ First Amendment rights “by allowing them to make religiously and morally motivated statements that provide information about APR to women who may wish to attempt to counteract the effects of an abortion initiated by oral medication,” Judge Bianco concluded.
“To hold otherwise could potentially subject a sweeping range of non-profits to regulation of their speech for providing the public with information and resources concerning critical services.”
See link for ruling:
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