Pro-life publisher facing demands to retract calling abortion 'killing' fires back: 'The answer is No'

EXCLUSIVE: A prominent pro-life organization is refusing demands to remove years of abortion-related reporting and to issue sweeping retractions after attorneys representing 13 abortion-rights advocates accused it of publishing false and defamatory claims about their pregnancies.

"The answer is 'No,'" attorneys for Live Action wrote in a fiery response obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital ahead of its public release Monday.

"Live Action will not cease reporting on abortion," the response says, rejecting demands to delete its archive, publish sweeping retractions or agree to restrictions on future coverage.

Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of litigation at Thomas More Society, told Fox News Digital that he believes the dispute raises a fundamental free-speech issue.

"The other side's argument is that somehow, by using the word kill or calling abortion killing, that you have a problem that you can create that could then be remedied in court," Breen said.

"The issue is every single final court decision to deal with this has previously said that's not defamatory," he added. "It's not legally wrong to call abortion killing."

Amplify Legal responded Monday, telling Fox News Digital that its objections concern statements it says Live Action made about families facing wanted pregnancies.

"Live Action has repeatedly accused grieving families with wanted pregnancies of 'wanting to kill' their babies. These statements are both inaccurate and cruel," Amplify Legal said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Asked whether Amplify intends to sue following Live Action's rejection of its demands, the group stopped short of committing to litigation.

"As our clients' lawyers, we will be weighing all of their options," the statement said.

Cox, whose case made national headlines after she asked the Texas Supreme Court for permission to obtain an abortion was denied and later left the state to have the procedure, was a guest of former first lady Jill Biden at the 2024 State of the Union Address.

Amplify further says Live Action failed to contact its clients or their medical providers for comment before publication.

"The lying, bullying, and complete disregard for the truth must end now," Amplify Litigation Director Molly Duane said when announcing the demand in July. "What they are doing is not only cruel - it's illegal."

Live Action's attorneys dispute Amplify's allegations, but say the organization remains willing to consider specific factual challenges through its normal editorial corrections process.

Courts have previously confronted similar rhetoric in the abortion debate.

The court also cited a 1988 Illinois appellate decision, Van Duyn v. Smith, rejecting a defamation claim involving a poster that used the term "prenatal killing" to describe abortion.

"Amplify Legal's demand letter is legally frivolous activism," Shapiro said. "One side says 'abortion is murder.' The other side says denying women the right to abortion takes us to a dystopian Handmaid's Tale. These are opinions, and opinions by definition aren't defamatory."

Shapiro went further, arguing that describing an abortion as "killing" does not become defamatory merely because the terminology is fiercely disputed.

Lila Rose, Live Action founder and president, told Fox News Digital that the organization would not change its language in response to the threatened legal action.

"Abortion is an act of killing. It deliberately ends the life of a living human child," Rose said. "Americans have every right to say that openly and forcefully, without fear of being dragged into court for refusing to adopt the deceptive language preferred by abortion activists."

Rose said the organization would continue using such language regardless of the legal threat.

"Threats will not stop us from calling abortion what it is or from fighting for the right of every child to live," she said. "We will keep fighting, and we will win."

The letter warns that Live Action could seek attorneys' fees and sanctions if a lawsuit is filed and directs Amplify and its clients to preserve potentially relevant records and communications.

Asked whether the Thomas More Society was effectively telling Amplify and its clients, "Go ahead, sue us," Breen stopped short of inviting a lawsuit, but didn't back away.

"Certainly, the courthouse door is open," Breen told Fox News Digital.

Breen said the Thomas More Society does not want its clients dragged into litigation, but is confident in Live Action's position.

"We're not going to back down from that," he said. "If it comes, we will be very, very well-prepared."

Amplify, for its part, told Fox News Digital that it is "weighing all of [its clients'] options."

For Breen, the next move belongs to Amplify.

"The ball is in the other side's court," he said.