Pro-life publisher Live Action refuses demands to retract abortion coverage, cites First Amendment protections
Attorneys representing 13 abortion-rights advocates sent a cease-and-desist letter to Live Action, a pro-life media organization, in July, demanding removal of articles and social media posts, a public apology, and retractions over coverage they say contained false factual claims. Live Action, represented by the Thomas More Society, publicly rejected those demands on Monday. Amplify Legal, the firm representing the 13 individuals, said it is weighing its clients' legal options following Live Action's refusal.
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Live Action, a pro-life media organization, rejected a cease-and-desist demand from Amplify Legal on Monday, with its attorneys writing that the organization would not delete its archive, publish retractions, or agree to restrictions on future coverage. The Thomas More Society, which represents Live Action, said in a response obtained by Fox News Digital that the answer to the demands was simply "No."
Amplify Legal's July 15 letter alleged that Live Action published false factual claims about the pregnancies, fetal diagnoses, and medical circumstances of 13 people featured in its coverage, and that the outlet did not contact those individuals or their medical providers before publication. Amplify Litigation Director Molly Duane said in July that what Live Action was doing was "not only cruel — it's illegal."
Live Action and its attorneys framed the dispute primarily as a free-speech matter. Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of litigation at the Thomas More Society, said that every final court decision to address the question had found that calling abortion "killing" is not defamatory. He cited a 2023 Texas Supreme Court ruling holding that statements by an anti-abortion activist characterizing abortion in moral and legal terms were "protected opinion about abortion law made in pursuit of changing that law." A 1988 Illinois appellate decision, Van Duyn v. Smith, was also cited, in which a court rejected a defamation claim over a poster using the term "prenatal killing."