Colorado will pay $6.1 million to two religious rights organizations to settle a case over a law that sought to ban so-called abortion pill “reversal.”
The law, supported by Democrats and passed in 2023, was blocked by a federal judge who found it unconstitutionally infringes upon religious liberty.
Becket, a national, nonprofit law firm that represents clients in religious freedom cases, filed suit against the state on behalf of a Catholic health clinic in Englewood named Bella Health and Wellness. A Colorado nurse practitioner subsequently joined the case, as well, represented by the organization Alliance Defending Freedom, or ADF.
After the judge permanently blocked the state from enforcing the law against the plaintiffs, Becket and ADF sought to recover attorneys fees and court costs. The settlements, which were signed last month, ended that fight with the state agreeing to pay Becket $5.4 million, according to a settlement agreement provided to The Colorado Sun by a spokesperson for Becket. The state agreed to pay ADF $700,000, according to an agreement the organization posted on its website.
A spokesperson for the Colorado Attorney General’s Office confirmed that the state had reached a settlement over attorneys fees but otherwise provided no comment.
What is abortion pill reversal?
A medication abortion typically involves two drugs taken in succession: mifepristone and misoprostol. Nationally, about two-thirds of all abortions involve using medication. In Colorado, Planned Parenthood has reported that 70% of the abortions they provide involve pills.
Abortion pill “reversal” is the idea that the first drug taken during a medication abortion — mifepristone — can be counteracted if the pregnant patient is given large doses of the hormone progesterone.
Scientific evidence for the idea is spotty, and major medical organizations do not support the practice. Nor is the practice federally approved.
Proponents cite collections of anecdotes — what is known in science as case series — as well as research conducted on mice. Opponents say this evidence falls short of what is needed to justify the practice and counter that there is evidence taking mifepristone alone could increase the risk of severe bleeding.
One review of the available research published in 2023 concluded: “Based mostly on poor-quality data, it appears the ongoing pregnancy rate in individuals treated with progesterone after mifepristone is not significantly higher compared to that of individuals receiving mifepristone alone.”
Religious rights fight
Colorado lawmakers said banning the practice would protect unsuspecting patients from false claims and unproven medicine.
The law was part of a broader focus on so-called crisis pregnancy centers, anti-abortion clinics that can look like full-service medical providers but do not offer or discuss the full range of care options.
“The reason that myself and other sponsors brought these rules is because we feel that pregnant people are going into these anti-abortion and pregnancy clinics and being shamed into practices that are not OK,” the late state Sen. Faith Winter, one of the law’s sponsors, said during a public meeting in 2023.
But the state provided no evidence that the practice had harmed patients in Colorado. The state also did not attempt to crack down on other medical practices unsupported by science or other off-label uses of progesterone, which is used commonly in maternity care.
Many of the clinics that offer reversal identify as faith-based, and the clinics’ practitioners say they provide the treatment as part of a religious mission. They argued patients who want to counteract the effects of mifepristone should be given a chance to try.
Ultimately, U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Domenico, who was appointed to the bench by President Donald Trump, ruled that lawmakers knew the ban would infringe upon religious practice and that the state had not provided a compelling enough reason to justify that burden.
In a statement, Becket senior counsel Rebekah Ricketts said 18 moms who received reversal treatment at Bella Health and Wellness gave birth to babies during the duration of the court case. This datapoint is complicated, though, because mifepristone alone can be ineffective at causing an abortion, meaning it is unclear whether the high doses of progesterone are what caused the pregnancies to continue.
“All Coloradans should celebrate those little miracles and the brave medical team at Bella that helped their moms when no one else would,” Ricketts said.
Said Kevin Theriot, a senior ADF attorney who worked on the case: “Government officials can’t silence medical professionals and prevent them from saving lives.”