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Moms and Babies tell Congress: Pregnancy Centers are good for America

By Virginia Cline, Director of Public Relations/Public Policy

On January 22, 2009, the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, Heartbeat International assisted with meetings on Capitol Hill between elected officials and the women and children saved by pregnancy centers. We named this event “Babies Go to Congress” (BGTC) because nothing speaks to the success of the pregnancy center more than a mother with her baby.

Our group of 33 traveled from 11 states, represented 20 congressional districts, and included six babies ranging in age from five weeks to 18 years old. We had face to face meetings with 11 Congressmen and several conversations with key congressional staffers. The message we delivered was simple but strong: “Pregnancy centers are good for America.”

We divided ourselves into teams. Each team would visit two to four congressional offices. My team included Tim Stickel, Executive Director of Crossroads Pregnancy Center (Heartbeat’s affiliate in Michigan), his wife, Claudia, and their client, Kizzy, and her five-week-old son, Kimarion. Also included were Mallory, a Regent University student, whose birth mom was raped and then helped by a Heartbeat affiliate in Texas, and her adoptive mom, Robin, who now lives in Iowa.

Our first meeting was with Congressman Gary Peters’ (D-MI) legislative assistant and she was receptive as Kizzy and Mallory shared about the good work of pregnancy centers. Then we met with Congressmen Leonard Boswell’s (D-IA) legislative aide. She invited us to sit down wither in the conference room and Mallory shared how her mom had been raped but found help at the pregnancy center and that now she was very happy with her adoptive family in Iowa. After an explanation of the work of Heartbeat and the pregnancy center network, the legislative aide asked what we wanted. That’s when I said that we were not there for a bailout and that we just wanted to let the Congressman know that pregnancy centers are good for America. Her demeanor changed, she smiled and nodded as we had real dialogue. Mallory spoke about how she was glad to be alive and I felt so blessed to be a part of such a conversation. Then we had a chance to meet Congressman Boswell for a few minutes. He was gracious and allowed us to take pictures of him with Mallory for her scrapbook, and ours too.

Next we spent about 20 minutes covering the work of the pregnancy centers and Heartbeat International with Congressman Louie Gohmert’s (R-TX) legislative assistant. Afterwards, Congressman Gohmert stepped out of a committee meeting to greet us and share his own personal story of his pro-life commitment. We were blessed by the conversation and the encouragement he gave us. We took pictures with Congressman Gohmert and it surprised us when he got out his camera to take more pictures.

Heartbeat Vice President of Ministry Support Joe Young led the team with moms and babies from Heartbeat’s affiliate in Washington D.C. Joe shared that in one office, where the representative favored abortion, congressional staff warmed up to the life-affirming ministry of pregnancy centers when one of the moms took her little baby out of the baby carrier. The baby in the arms of her mother alleviated all the tension that often accompanies the abortion issue on Capitol Hill. One of the staffers asked if the office had permission to refer callers who needed help to their local pregnancy center. This is evidence of the fact that new life has the power to change hearts.

Heartbeat’s Director of Advancement Tom Hajdukiewicz, Executive Director Brenda Newport (Heartbeat’s affiliate in Pennsylvania), and center staff took moms Gosha, Jen, and Tika to meet with Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA).

The team was also able to meet with Congressman Jason Altmire (D-PA). Altmire’s office could not confirm an appointment due to the Congressman’s hectic schedule. However, by divine providence our team ran into him in the hall and explained they were in Washington to see him. Congressman Altmire appeared to be genuinely interested in the moms from Heartbeat’s affiliate in Pennsylvania. Many of the women became emotional as they told their stories of their unplanned pregnancies and the tremendous support they received from the local pregnancy center. The Congressman asked for all the written testimonies from our moms. At the end he made time to take pictures with the group and individually. For someone that had no time, time was made available and we believe the meeting touched him. It was reassuring to know that our elected officials are people too; and that means they have hearts that can be touched and changed by our compassionate work.

The team from Pennsylvania also met with the legislative aide for Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) thanking her for the Senator’s support of their abstinence program. The group was able to once again tell each individual story as the Senator’s aide paid considerable attention. The aide mentioned that she was surprised by everything that pregnancies centers are doing. She had no idea what a pregnancy center was actually capable of doing. This comment was particularly revealing of the role that Heartbeat’s BGTC event played for congressmen and their staff. Because of the connections made by this event, three congressmen are now planning to visit a pregnancy center, one said she would come to the center’s banquet, and several of the moms that went to Washington D.C. with us signed up for the volunteer training program at their center. Also, Mallory (the baby saved by a pregnancy center who is now a college student) was invited to apply for a congressional internship by a senate staffer and sees a role in public service in her future.

Just as God calls us to relationship with each other, it is also vital that we have relationships with our elected officials. We each have two U.S. senators, a U.S. representative, a state senator and a state representative, a governor, and a president who need to hear about the important work of the pregnancy centers.

Click here to find your elected officials.

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The following is a report by Rita Reyes, Executive Director of Choices of the Heart (Heartbeat’s New Jersey Affiliate):

I was privileged to take with me our first client RaeAnne and her son, Antonio (our first baby) who is now 12 years old. RaeAnne became employed by Choices of the Heart last July. Her testimony and long term relationship with Choices of the Heart made her presence all the more powerful. Heartbeat asked RaeAnne to come with her written story in hand to leave with every congressman we visited.

We broke into teams; each team had appointments in different congressional offices. My team included, Peggy Hartshorn, President of Heartbeat International. We had scheduled meetings with Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Congressman Tim Ryan (D-OH). We were welcomed warmly, especially by Congressman Franks who was very open to sharing his personal story and very strong pro-life position. We were able to communicate many things about our work that were unknown to our representatives. For example, our ability to network with local physicians, our commitment to the woman after she has the baby and our goal to empower her for life through mentoring and education. The added bonus…..we do it all without Federal funding.

Being able to dialogue about this work was not difficult. The work speaks for itself. Getting the right people to listen is the challenge. Heartbeat did an amazing job with organizing the entire trip. I believe they accomplished their initial goal, however they may not realize something else more significant happened and it was personal. My passion was reignited.

Sometimes the passion for the work gets lost in the everyday battles we face but crossing the streets of Washington D.C., I was reminded of the verse: “How precious are the feet of them who bring good news.” We were bringing great news to our Nation’s Capitol. Pregnancy centers are good for America. Pregnancy centers are committed. Pregnancy centers save lives. Pregnancy centers are here to stay. I was blessed to be able to tell it and even more blessed to live it.

Read Raeanne's story here.