Bella Health and Wellness v. Weiser

Healthcare rooted in faith  

Founded by Catholic mother and daughter nurse practitioners Dede Chism and Abby Sinnett, the inspiration for Bella Health and Wellness came from a medical mission trip the pair took in the Andes Mountains of Peru. During that trip, Dede and Abby were convicted that everyone has a unique story and that every life deserves the utmost protection. After the trip, Dede and Abby discerned the call to open a life-affirming Catholic medical clinic for women in the Denver metropolitan area. Started as an OB-GYN practice, Bella Health and Wellness has since expanded its work in the Denver area to offer care to men and children as well. Today, Bella has over 28,000 registered patients.  

Like healthcare clinics across the nation, Bella’s OB-GYN practice often prescribes women progesterone, a safe, naturally occurring hormone that is essential to maintain a healthy pregnancy and frequently prescribed to women at risk of miscarriage. Consistent with its Catholic beliefs in the dignity of all human life, Bella also offers progesterone to women who seek help to continue their pregnancies after taking the first abortion pill. That treatment is commonly known as abortion pill reversal. Bella’s abortion pill reversal patients have now given birth to at least 11 babies since this case was filed. 

Colorado law targets life-affirming healthcare clinics 

In April 2023, Colorado made it illegal for life-affirming healthcare clinics like Bella to offer progesterone to women who have willingly or unwillingly taken the abortion pill, or even to advertise for such a service. Even though progesterone has been safely used for years to maintain healthy pregnancies, the Colorado Legislature has categorically denied its use for abortion pill reversal. State legislators have labeled progesterone’s use in this context to be “deceptive” and “unprofessional conduct,” while its use for all other purposes—including natural miscarriage—remains legal. Without a court injunction, Bella would face up to $20,000 per violation and the loss of the medical licenses for its providers if it continues to offer abortion pill reversal.  

The law protects Bella’s right to serve in accordance with its faith 

Bella Health and Wellness has a religious duty to provide life-affirming medical care to every patient, including women at risk of miscarriage due to the abortion pill. Colorado cannot single out and attack clinics that provide life-affirming care to pregnant women who seek out their help. The Supreme Court has consistently held that governments are barred from singling out religiously motivated practices from comparable secular practices simply because of their religious nature.  

On April 14, 2023, Becket filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado to stop the State from targeting religious healthcare clinics that offer women care in accordance with their faith. The district court quickly granted emergency relief to Bella. 

During a hearing on April 24, Colorado government officials committed that the State would not enforce the law, promising instead to act as if the law “never existed” pending rulemaking by the state’s Medical, Nursing, and Pharmacy licensing boards. In an April 28 order, the district court ruled that the State “will not enforce the new Colorado law against any licensee” until three state boards implemented regulations required by the law.   

The three licensing boards issued their regulations, doubling down on the legislature’s targeting of faith-based healthcare. On September 22, 2023, Bella again asked the Court for protection against the law. In an opinion issued on October 21, the district court blocked Colorado from enforcing the law, finding that Colorado likely violated Bella’s free exercise rights in three different ways. Under the court’s protection, Bella and its providers have continued, consistent with their religious beliefs, to offer healthcare to women who have changed their minds about abortion and seek Bella’s help to continue their pregnancies.  

More than a year of full discovery confirmed that there is no safety or efficacy justification for banning abortion pill reversal while allowing medical practitioners to administer progesterone for any other purpose. On January 31, 2025, Bella asked the district court to make its temporary protections permanent. That motion is currently pending. 

Importance to Religious Liberty: 

Individual Freedom: Freedom of conscience is the human right to believe, express beliefs, and act according to the dictates of an individual’s conscience. Becket defends the right of all individuals to live according to their consciences without government coercion.