Representatives of Bella Health and Wellness, a Denver-area Catholic clinic, were in federal court today challenging Colorado Senate Bill 190, which bans a protocol for reversing chemical abortions.
The Colorado law, which passed earlier this year, was put on hold in April, while three state medical boards were to determine and rule on the safety and efficacy of the procedure before the law could be enforced. In the interim, Bella was allowed to continue abortion pill reversal treatment.
Chemical abortions, or “the abortion pill”, actually involve two pills – Mifepristone (RU-486) is taken first and blocks the hormone progesterone, which is key for maintaining a pregnancy. The second pill, misoprostol, is taken 24 hours later and induces contractions in the uterus.
The abortion pill reversal protocol implemented by Bella (for women who have taken the first pill and then change their mind, wishing to stop the abortion) involves administering a large dose of progesterone in an effort to override the effects of Mifepristone.
After the state medical boards found that the abortion pill reversal protocol was outside of the “generally accepted standard of practice,” Bella is once again challenging the law and asking for relief.
Dede Chism and Abby Sinnett, Catholic nurse practitioners and founders of Bella, represented the clinic today along with representation from the Becket law firm.
In a complaint filed for the U.S. District Court of Colorado in September, Beckett argued that the medical boards tasked with determining the safety and efficacy of progesterone “caved to political pressure” surrounding the hot-button issue law instead of thoroughly examining the case.
“Notably, the Medical Board initially proposed to investigate any complaints about abortion pill reversal on a case-by-case basis,” Beckett said in the complaint.
“But more than a dozen state legislators submitted a comment ‘express[ing] our dismay and disappointment’ at the proposed rule. Two bill sponsors showed up to testify, demanding that the Boards ‘reconsider your draft rules’ and ‘carefully reread the instructions’ in the statute. The Medical Board promptly caved to that political pressure, abruptly abandoning the proposed rule and instead finding that using progesterone to reverse the effects of mifepristone is not a generally accepted standard of practice,” Beckett noted.
Bella argues that progesterone is a safe treatment, as it is used to treat pregnant women at higher risk of naturally occurring miscarriages, and is a prominent, key hormone in pregnancy.
“However, despite evidence of progesterone’s safety and efficacy, the state has still banned it. As a result, providing progesterone to women who change their minds about abortion remains unprofessional conduct in Colorado—and Bella’s providers run the risk of losing their medical licenses and suffering crippling fines if they continue their ministry to women who seek their help,” Becket law firm stated in a press release on Oct. 17.
Becket has also argued that the law targets religious clinics and forces women to complete abortions who have changed their minds while penalizing the doctors trying to help them with a safe treatment.
“It is outrageous and wrong for Colorado to deprive these women of their ability to choose life, and to ban faith-based clinics like Bella from serving them,” Rebekah Ricketts, counsel at Becket, said in the press release.
Chism and Sinnett said their pro-life beliefs as Catholics are what drives them to offer abortion pill reversals to their patients.
“We founded Bella because we believe that the miracle of life is worth protecting at every stage and in every circumstance,” Chism and Sinnett said in a press statement released Oct. 17.
“Under our care, mothers who choose life have access to a safe treatment that increases the chances they will give birth to healthy babies. I pray that we will be able to continue this life-saving ministry to women who come to us in need of help.”
A ruling from the court is expected in the coming weeks.