Featured image: Dr. George Delgado, Tammy Mahaney, and Uyen Pham and baby
Conference speakers: abortion pill reversal is the hope of the pro-life movement
By Valerie Schmalz
It was almost by accident that Dr. George Delgado discovered a technique to block the effects of the abortion pill—and was able to save the unborn baby of a woman in El Paso in 2009.
The improvised solution Dr. Delgado devised in response to the Texas sidewalk counselor who called him for help for a woman who took the abortion pill and changed her mind has led to the development of a technique that Dr. Delgado credits with saving an estimated 7,000 babies in all 50 states and 93 countries.
“Abortion Pill Reversal is giving women a second chance for life,” Dr. Delgado told those gathered at the Archdiocese of San Francisco Respect Life Conference at Star of the Sea Sept. 27. “It is becoming the focus of the pro-life movement.”
New mom Uyen Pham knows firsthand APR can work—her seven-month-old son Christian is the living proof. As soon as she took the first pill at a Planned Parenthood last year, Uyen Pham said, “I immediately regretted it.”
“I was told at Planned Parenthood that you can’t complete the process and you might die if you don’t finish the abortion,” and if the baby is born it would have birth defects, said Uyen Pham, holding Christian on her hip at the Respect Life Conference where the topic was “The Abortion Pill: Dangers, Remedies, and Legal Challenges.”
After taking the first pill, Uyen Pham turned to a friend who researched on the internet and found Real Options where conference speaker, nurse practitioner Dr. Tammy Mahaney, helped her save her baby. Uyen Pham said she is telling her story because “I want to help other women.”
Abortion Pill Reversal is under attack from abortion advocates, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), who contends APR is not supported by science. (https://www.acog.org/advocacy/facts-are-important/medication-abortion-reversal-is-not-supported-by-science)
In 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed suit in Alameda County state court against Heartbeat International, which now runs the Abortion Pill Reversal Network, and Real Options Obria Medical Clinics. The complaint alleges that “Heartbeat and Real Options’ deceptive and fraudulent advertising of APR violates California’s False Advertising Law and Unfair Competition Law.”
The California case is costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and California AG Bonta is seeking millions of dollars in fines from Heartbeat International. “They want to silence us. And they want us to stop–they want us to stop us from doing our ministries,” Thomas More Society head of litigation and executive vice president Peter Breen told the conference.
Since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of mifepristone for abortion in September 2000, use of the abortion pill has rapidly increased. In 2023, 63 percent of abortions were chemical abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. In 2025, chemical abortions are likely 70 percent or more of all abortions. Since the loosening of restrictions by the Biden Administration in the Covid 19 pandemic, most medication abortions are taking place at home, Dr. Delgado said. There are numerous dangers with unsupervised chemical abortions, including undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies which can cause rupture of the fallopian tubes and uncontrolled bleeding, he said.
Unlike in the case of surgical abortion, there is a chance for pregnant women who change their mind to save their babies. The Abortion Pill Reversal calls for administration of large doses of progesterone within 24 to 72 hours after the first abortion pill of mifepristone is taken. APR has a 64 to 68 percent success rate, said Dr. Delgado, president and founder of the Steno Institute. The progesterone must be administered before ingestion of the second pill, misoprostol, which causes contractions to expel the baby.
Dr. Delgado and local ob/gyn Dr. Mary Davenport were leaders in developing and studying APR and its effectiveness and safety for pregnant women. In addition, animal studies have demonstrated its safety and effectiveness, Dr. Delgado said. They are linked at the Steno Institute website here. (https://stenoinstitute.org/)
If publicized broadly, APR would give all women who have started the abortion pill regime and change their minds a second chance for life, Dr. Delgado said.
“The state of California is not trying to ban APR, it is just trying to ban talking about it,” Breen said, but without being able to promote APR it will be nearly impossible to offer it as healthcare.
The prolife legal nonprofit believes that in the aftermath of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturning Roe v. Wade, “Really the fight is in the states.” The Thomas More Society has numerous cases across the country, in blue states of California, New York and Illinois and in red states including Texas, Breen said.
In California, looking ahead to a possible public trial of the APR case in 2026 where it will be possible to cross examine those who claim APR is dangerous and ineffective, Breen said: “We are going to put the abortion regimen and the abortion industry on trial.”
Learn more about the Thomas More Society, https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/
Learn more about APR at Heartbeat International, https://www.heartbeatinternational.org/apr-101
Learn more about Dr. Delgado and his work at https://stenoinstitute.org/
–Valerie Schmalz is director of the Office of Human Life & Dignity in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
