Welcome to the TMS Weekly Dispatch for June 26, 2026—with the latest news and updates from the front line, to keep you in-the-know on all things Thomas More Society.

Here's the latest from the past week:

THE PRO-LIFE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY — WEEK ONE IN CALIFORNIA v. HEARTBEAT INTERNATIONAL: The first week of trial has concluded in The People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions, the first lawsuit over Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) to go to trial in U.S. history. California Attorney General Rob Bonta is seeking more than $20 million in combined fines—enough to financially destroy Heartbeat International, the nation's largest pregnancy center network, and RealOptions, a group of Bay Area pregnancy centers that provide APR—for sharing truthful, medically supported information about APR with women who want a second chance at life for their babies.

Providing APR itself remains legal in California. What the state seeks is to make it illegal for these nonprofits to tell women about it. After nearly three years of litigation and extensive discovery, the AG has not produced a single consumer complaint, not one woman who was harmed or misled, and no study showing APR is unsafe.

This week, abortionist Dr. Mitchell Creinin, the author of the state’s key study against APR and a paid consultant to abortion pill manufacturer Danco Laboratories, took the stand as a witness this week and will continue testimony on Monday. Late Thursday, Thomas More Society Special Counsel Paul Jonna began the Defense’s cross examination of Dr. Creinin and will continue Monday.

“This is the pro-life ‘trial of the century,’” said Peter Breen, TMS Executive Vice President & Head of Litigation. “If Bonta succeeds, those moms go unaided and their babies likely die. The First Amendment forbids government from declaring what's true and false in issues of public debate like abortion—Bonta's prosecution runs roughshod over the Free Speech rights of every American.”

The bench trial before Judge Patrick McKinney continues next week. Read TMS's full press release here.

TMS PUBLISHES FULL DEFENSE OPENING STATEMENT: Thomas More Society today published the complete text of the defense's opening statement, delivered by Paul M. Jonna, TMS Special Counsel, on June 24.

Jonna presented the court with four independent grounds for ruling in favor of the defendants:

· The speech is not commercial, as both defendants are religious nonprofits providing APR information and services for free. Therefore, the California AG can’t use consumer fraud laws to prosecute Heartbeat International and RealOptions;

· The burden rests on the AG to prove falsity, not merely to criticize the science—which he can’t successfully do;

· The challenged statements are accurate, or at minimum the defendants reasonably relied on legitimate science;

· And the speech is independently protected by free speech, free exercise, and the right to reproductive privacy.

As Jonna told the court, the AG described “advertising,” “selling,” and “deception,” but the evidence will show true information, given for free, to women who asked for it.

Read the full opening statement here.

OVER 200 WOMEN WHO SOUGHT APR PUSH BACK AS THE STATE TRIES TO SILENCE THEIR STORIES: As trial got underway, more than 200 women who contacted the Abortion Pill Rescue Network signed an open letter defending the care and information they received, and objecting to the state's attempt to shut down that lifeline. Over 40 of the signatories are Californians. The women emphasized that no one pressured them; they were given information about a medical option, and they decided for themselves whether to pursue it. In court filings, the AG's team objected to photos of children born after APR being included in the case, calling them “irrelevant.”  

Read the open letter here.

NINTH CIRCUIT CITES TMS SUPREME COURT VICTORY TO STRIKE DOWN CALIFORNIA'S GENDER SECRECY LAW: On June 18, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit enjoined key provisions of California's AB 1955, the law that prohibited school districts from notifying parents when a student identifies as a different gender at school. The panel’s reasoning rested entirely on the Supreme Court's decision in Mirabelli v. Bonta—the landmark parental rights case litigated by Thomas More Society. In City of Huntington Beach v. Gavin Newsom, the court held that AB 1955 bans the very parental notification policies that the Constitution now requires under Mirabelli, and it granted a preliminary injunction protecting seven parent-plaintiffs. The same panel had denied relief twice before, but the Supreme Court’s ruling in Mirabelli changed the legal landscape.

“The Ninth Circuit enjoined key provisions of AB 1955...holding that, ‘In light of Mirabelli, AB 1955 ... forbids the mandatory policies that the Constitution requires,’” reacted Paul M. Jonna, TMS Special Counsel and Partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP. “This decision is a direct result of the courage of our clients who challenged California's gender secrecy regime back in 2023.”

Read the decision here. Learn more about our Supreme Court victory at thomasmoresociety.org/mirabelli.

TODAY IN HISTORY—12 YEARS SINCE McCULLEN v. COAKLEY: Twelve years ago today on June 26, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down a Massachusetts law that made it a crime to stand on the public sidewalk within 35 feet of an abortion facility. In McCullen v. Coakley, the Court held that the buffer zones burdened far more speech than necessary, and that the government could not wall off traditional public forums from peaceful pro-life sidewalk counselors like Eleanor McCullen, who wanted nothing more than to offer a conversation, a pamphlet, and a message of hope to women in crisis.

TMS has secured victories for sidewalk counselors in Clearwater, Florida, where a federal judge entered a permanent injunction blocking the city's buffer zone law, and is currently challenging similar speech restrictions in Westchester County, New York and Detroit, Michigan.