NY Attorney General Letitia James Loses First Round in Legal Battle Against Pregnancy Help Organizations
New York Court Orders Lawsuit to Remain in Rochester, Rejecting State’s Attempt to Shift Cases to Manhattan
(May 28, 2024 – Rochester, New York) Thomas More Society attorneys have responded to a court order rejecting New York Attorney General Letitia James’ attempt to move litigation involving pregnancy help organizations to Manhattan from upstate New York. The statement by the national not-for-profit law firm representing a dozen pregnancy help organizations, including Heartbeat International and CompassCare, was issued May 28, 2024.
New York Supreme Court Justice Sam Valleriani issued the consolidation order on May 24, 2024. This combines a lawsuit brought by James against pregnancy help organizations in Manhattan, New York, with the previously filed case brought by the organizations in Rochester’s Monroe County Court. James had tried to relocate the lawsuit against her from its Rochester venue to New York County Court in Manhattan, hundreds of miles aways.
Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President & Head of Litigation, said: “For the past month, Letitia James has tried to illegally frighten and harass New York’s pregnancy help organizations into silence, threatening them with lawsuits if they keep speaking their truthful message about Abortion Pill Reversal. We brought suit in Rochester, near to where most of the organizations are headquartered and work. Instead of agreeing to a convenient venue, James then sued these charitable organizations in Manhattan, despite the fact that not a single one of the organizations is located there. We are pleased that the Court in Monroe County agreed that the cases should be consolidated together and heard in Rochester, the ‘most fair, appropriate and logistically convenient venue,’ and not in Manhattan, which has no connection to the case. We look forward to defending Heartbeat International, CompassCare, and all of New York’s pregnancy help organizations targeted by James’ unconstitutional witch-hunt. New Yorkers deserve to know that Abortion Pill Reversal is not just possible but safe and effective, and our clients have the right to share that truth with women who are undergoing a chemical abortion that they do not want to continue.”
Thomas More Society attorneys filed suit on April 30, 2024, against James in Monroe County, on behalf of Heartbeat International and a group of New York pregnancy help organizations. On May 6, 2024, James filed a lawsuit against the same organizations, in New York County, which covers Manhattan.
Read the Order of Consolidation, granted May 24, 2024, by Justice Sam L. Valleriani of the Supreme Court of theState of New York – Monroe County, in the consolidated lawsuits, now titled Letitia James v. Heartbeat International, et al., here.
Read the Decision on Motion to Consolidate, dated May 21, 2024, by Justice SamL. Valleriani of the Supreme Court of the State of New York – Monroe County, here.
Read the Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion to Consolidate, filed by Thomas More Society attorneys on May 7, 2024, here.
Read about Thomas More Society’s representation of Heartbeat International, CompassCare, and other pregnancy help organizations in New York, and see relevant legal filings, here.
