Federal Judge Won't Block New Colorado Law Banning ‘Abortion Reversal' Treatment

By Lindsey Toomer, Colorado Newsline

April 28, 2023

A federal judge on Friday denied a faith-based medical clinic’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of a new Colorado law that bans the administration of abortion reversal drugs.

The decision, issued by U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Domenico, says an injunction is not necessary since Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s office already agreed not to enforce the law until Colorado medical boards determine whether progesterone can be administered as a treatment to reverse medication abortions.

Senate Bill 23-190, which prohibits “crisis pregnancy centers” from engaging in false and deceptive advertising practices, is being challenged by the Englewood-based Catholic clinic Bella Health and Wellness. The clinic’s lawsuit says the law’s prohibition on offering progesterone violates the clinic’s First Amendment right to religious freedom.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists maintains that abortion reversal treatment, where a patient takes progesterone to offset the effects of mifepristone, is not based in science.

In seeking an injunction against the law’s enforcement, Bella Health argued that the clinic would be put into “an impossible position: either deny care in accordance with this new law and violate their sincerely held religious beliefs or continue to provide life-affirming care to their patients at the risk of losing their licenses.”

The state, however, agreed not to enforce SB 23-190 until after the rulemaking process on the use of progesterone is complete at the end of October to avoid “premature enforcement actions” that could prove unnecessary.

“As a result, Bella Health faces no credible reason to fear prosecution under the new Colorado law, depriving it of standing, and this case is not ripe for judicial review,” Weiser wrote earlier this month in the state’s response to the motion for injunction.

Domenico, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said in his decision that he has no reason to doubt the defendants’ agreement not to challenge any medical licensing under the law at this time.

“While there is room for lawyerly quibbling with some of the language used in the defendants’ declarations, I am satisfied that the defendants’ intent and commitment to the Court is that they will preserve the status quo ante SB 23-190 at least until the rulemaking process contemplated by the bill takes place,” Domenico wrote in his decision. “And since the sole purpose of the plaintiffs’ requested preliminary injunction is to preserve that status quo, it is not warranted.”

Democracy functions only when people have access to reliable information about government and society. Colorado Newsline’s mission is to be a trusted source of such information. Newsline is nonprofit, nonpartisan and independent, and it provides fair and accurate reporting on politics, policy and other stories of interest to Colorado readers.