Court finds in favor of Denver-area Bella clinic.<\/p>\n
A federal district court on Friday ordered that a Colorado medical clinic run by two Catholic nurses can continue its abortion-pill reversal ministry, partially blocking a state law that had sought to ban the practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
U.S. District Judge Daniel Domenico said in his Friday ruling<\/a> that Colorado’s abortion pill reversal ban interfered with the religious rights of nurses Dede Chism and Abby Sinnett.<\/p>\n The Catholic mother-daughter team<\/a> runs the Denver-area Bella Health and Wellness clinic. Part of their services include administering the hormone progesterone that can counteract the effects of chemical abortions.<\/p>\n Colorado in 2023 banned abortion pill reversal<\/a> alleging that it constitutes a \u201cdeceptive trade practice.\u201d That same year the nurses sued the state over the ban,<\/a> arguing that it impeded their religious beliefs and those of their clients.\u00a0<\/p>\n Domenico in October 2023 issued a temporary block<\/a> on the state’s ban. His ruling on Friday made the ban permanent.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is \u201cnot disputed that by effectively prohibiting them from using a particular treatment for pregnant women, this law burdened [the nurses\u2019] sincerely held religious beliefs,\u201d the judge wrote in part.\u00a0<\/p>\n And \u201cwhile the clinical efficacy of abortion pill reversal remains debatable, nobody has been injured by the treatment and a number of women have successfully given birth after receiving it,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The state failed to show it had \u201ca compelling interest in regulating this practice,\u201d he ruled in making the injunction permanent.\u00a0<\/p>\n The judge noted that Colorado in numerous other contexts allows \u201coff-label\u201d use of progesterone, The state, he said, did not provide compelling evidence that using progesterone to counteract an abortion pill \u201csets medication abortion reversal apart from other off-label uses of progesterone.\u201d<\/p>\n Domenico said his ruling only prohibits action against the Bella clinic and does not impact the overall law itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n