(LifeSiteNews) – The far-left state of California is suing pro-life groups Heartbeat International and RealOptions Obria for offering Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) services, which Democrat Attorney General Rob Bonta contends constitutes “fraudulent and misleading claims.”

The Associated Press reported that Bonta accuses the groups, the latter of which runs a chain of counseling centers in the northern part of the Golden State, of violating the state’s False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law, and seeks an injunction blocking promotion of APR. The suit claims the groups make false claims about the technique’s effectiveness and neglect to inform patients about risks.

The abortion pill mifepristone (better known as RU-486) works by blocking the natural hormone progesterone that developing babies require to survive. Abortion pill reversal consists of administering extra progesterone to counteract mifepristone’s effects, ideally within 24 hours of taking the abortion pill.

“Those who are struggling with the complex decision to get an abortion deserve support and trustworthy guidance — not lies and misinformation,” said Bonta, who also took the opportunity to bemoan the “horrifying reality” that “right now there are more crisis pregnancy centers in California than abortion care clinics. Crisis pregnancy centers do not provide abortion or abortion referral, though they may want you to believe they do.”

Heartbeat International responded to the news in a press release confirming that it has not been served with an official legal complaint as of September 21 but stands by APR.

“Through our Abortion Pill Rescue Network hotline, we know that some women almost immediately regret their chemical abortion choice,” the group says. “These women deserve the right to try and save their pregnancies. No woman should ever be forced to complete an abortion she no longer wants.

“All major studies show that using progesterone to counteract a chemical abortion (Abortion Pill Reversal) can be effective since it’s the very same hormone a woman’s body produces to sustain her pregnancy,” Heartbeat International continues. “One study even shows an effective rate of 80 percent. Progesterone has been safely used with pregnant women and their babies since the 1950s. To date, statistics show more than 4,500 women have had successful abortion pill reversals and that number grows higher each day.”

Detractors argue that APR is harmful and unproven, but as pro-life OB/GYN Dr. William Lile has explained, the technique is based on principles that are well understood from progesterone’s common, FDA-approved use in a variety of other pregnancy-related situations. According to the Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN), “initial studies of APR have shown it has a 64-68% success rate.” Heartbeat International also publishes firsthand testimonials from women who have benefited from the technique.

This summer, the academic journal Scientific Reports published a study by Franciscan University of Steubenville neuroscientist Dr. Stephen Sammut that found “progesterone, administered shortly after mifepristone, reversed the effects of mifepristone (i.e., reversed the abortion) with living fetuses present at the end of gestation in 81 percent of cases,” after months of being challenged and rejected by other publications.