Two months before the U.S. Supreme Court shot down an attempt to ban abortion medication, a San Diego County doctor who was a plaintiff in the case stepped onto a stage in Texas and warned that another civil war is coming — this time over an issue "deeper than" slavery.

"This is life versus death, much more fundamental to our existence and to our relationship with our creator than being free or being a slave," Dr. George Delgado said in April at an event hosted by the antiabortion group Life First. "This has a true potential to divide our country in a civil war. ... The pro-life states must remain vigilant."

In a Supreme Court ruling this month, all nine justices declared that plaintiffs including Delgado, who has practiced medicine in California for more than 30 years, lacked standing and could not seek to pull abortion pills off the market simply because they are morally opposed.

The court unanimously voted to uphold access to abortion pills in the high-stakes case, ruling that the plaintiffs had made "too speculative" of a reach in their attempt to limit distribution of the medication.

But those criticisms have never stopped Delgado, who, against the backdrop of liberal California's mission to serve as a reproductive rights haven, has built an antiabortion empire based on what leading medical researchers have deemed unproven and potentially dangerous.

Delgado, a doctor who is certified in family medicine and palliative care but not in obstetrics and gynecology, is credited as the founder of so-called abortion pill reversal — a controversial protocol that is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and has been condemned by major medical organizations but has become a key tool in the national antiabortion movement.

The "reversal" process involves administering shots of progesterone to women who have taken the first of a two-pill regimen to induce an abortion. It is offered at Culture of Life Family Services, a state-licensed community clinic in Southern California that boasts "Christ-centered medical care" and where Delgado serves as medical director.

Inside the Escondido clinic, located in a strip mall steps away from a Planned Parenthood, a crucified Jesus hangs on one wall and a lace rendering of the Last Supper hangs on another. Nearby stands a large statue of Mother Teresa holding a child.

Delgado declined to speak with a Times reporter who visited the clinic last week. He has not responded to numerous emails and phone messages seeking comment over the last two months.

As a regular guest on Catholic radio shows, conservative podcasts and at antiabortion events, Delgado, a 61-year-old soft-spoken man from San Marcos, talks openly about how his Catholicism influences his work as a doctor, often citing Pope John Paul II and Vatican documents.

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