DENVER – Colorado state officials have agreed to pay $700,000 in attorneys’ fees to settle licensed nurse practitioner and certified nurse midwife Chelsea Mynyk’s part of the lawsuit Bella Health and Wellness v. Weiser. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent Mynyk.
In August, a Colorado district court issued an order permanently blocking the state from enforcing against Mynyk a law that prevents pro-life medical professionals from providing women the option of abortion pill reversal. Abortion pill reversal is a safe and often effective treatment for women who change their minds about chemical abortion and can reverse the effects of the first chemical abortion drug, saving the life of the unborn child.
“Government officials can’t silence medical professionals and prevent them from saving lives,” said ADF Senior Counsel Kevin Theriot. “Many women regret their chemical abortions, and some choose to reverse the effects of the first abortion drug, which can save their baby’s life. But Colorado’s law wrongly attempted to deny women the freedom to make that choice. We’re pleased Chelsea and the other pro-life plaintiffs in this suit are allowed to get back to their life-saving work of helping women and children.”
In April 2023, Colorado enacted a law that prohibits doctors and nurses from providing abortion pill reversal, forcing women to undergo abortions they wish to avoid.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty sued Colorado on behalf of Bella Health and Wellness, a Catholic, pro-life health care center, and secured a preliminary injunction, preventing Colorado’s law from being enacted while the lawsuit continued. But the injunction applied to only Bella Health and Wellness.
Mynyk runs her own clinic, Castle Rock Women’s Health, where she provides reproductive health care services to women. Like Bella Health and Wellness, Mynyk believes that she is compelled by her faith to provide abortion pill reversal to women who request it. Mynyk intervened in Bella Health’s lawsuit because she received a February 2024 letter from the Colorado State Board of Nursing notifying her that she is being investigated for a possible violation of the Nurse Practice Act based on an anonymous complaint about her provision of abortion pill reversal.
- Pronunciation guide: Mynyk (MIN’-ick), Theriot (TAIR’-ee-oh)
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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