“Pregnancy help cannot be both a safe harbor and a source of punishment,” Jor-El Godsey, president - Heartbeat International

COLUMBUS – 11/11/2025 – As some abortion opponents renew a debate over whether women should face criminal penalties for seeking or undergoing abortions, Heartbeat International reaffirms its commitment to compassion, support, and hope for every woman facing an unexpected pregnancy.

Pregnancy help organizations cannot both openly advocate for criminalizing women and remain safe harbors for them.

Our mission is rooted in “personal, confidential, and nonjudgmental” care that meets women in moments of crisis and empowers them to choose life. The call to criminalize women for abortion, however well-intentioned, directly conflicts with the heart of pregnancy help. Such measures would undermine the trust that allows women to reach out for support and would erode the safe, compassionate spaces that define the movement.

For more than 50 years, pregnancy help organizations have offered what laws alone cannot provide: customized practical assistance, personal emotional support, and applied spiritual encouragement. Through life-revealing ultrasounds, positive parenting classes, material aid, housing, and connections to community resources, these organizations have reached millions of women, helping them restore broken relationships, overcome fear, and choose life for their children.

While political and legal debates continue, the work of pregnancy help organizations rise above legislation. It offers a path of mercy rather than punishment. The movement’s focus is not on condemning those wounded by abortion but on rescuing, healing, and walking alongside them with human compassion.

Abortion must end because it destroys one life and deeply wounds another. Yet the path to a world where abortion is both illegal and unthinkable will not be built through criminalization of the victims of a lucrative abortion industry, but through compassion, through the tireless work of those who extend hope in place of fear, support in place of shame, and life in place of death.

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About Heartbeat International

Founded in 1971, Heartbeat International is the largest network of life-affirming pregnancy help organizations in the world, with nearly 4,000 affiliated locations spanning more than 100 countries. Through training, resources, and support, Heartbeat International empowers pregnancy help organizations to reach and rescue more women, and to renew communities for life.

Pregnancy help organizations cannot both openly advocate for criminalizing women and remain safe harbors for them.

“Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” – Proverbs 24:11

Rescue is exactly what the pregnancy help movement is all about. Not through political power or legal enforcement, but by engaging directly in the dynamics of individual lives.

We often rescue a mother facing an unintended pregnancy from the fear she now feels, as her life has changed in an instant. We rescue by helping her see the truth about the life within, often through an ultrasound of her baby. We rescue by helping meet relational and material needs that can overwhelm and create obstacles to saying "yes" to her child's future. We do this with material assistance and connecting her with resources that, without us, she would have never known were available. These are the legal, and sometimes only, means that can help dissuade her from an abortion she doesn’t want.

National or local laws may openly allow for abortion or be largely ineffectual in preventing it. In either instance, pregnancy help organizations have offered a successful way to rescue many who would otherwise have been led to slaughter. Not all, for sure, but many. Our movement has helped millions of moms make the courageous choice to rescue their own baby from a life-ending decision.

But some abortion opponents, though guided by a desire to rescue, aggressively focus on the political and legislative realm. Among these are self-described "abolitionists" who specifically direct their energies toward the immediate, absolute abolition of abortion, pursued by leveraging the power of government to criminalize every aspect of abortion. These “immediatists” support the call for criminalizing women who would feel coerced or are forced into an abortion.

At Heartbeat, our vision is to make abortion unwanted today and unthinkable for future generations. And our method matters. Our Heartbeat principles affirm that all services are personal, confidential, and nonjudgmental. Such a principle is an essential posture that supports and safeguards our invitation for women to explore life-affirming choices without fear of condemnation or retribution.

Pregnancy help is a compassionate outreach to women who would otherwise feel unable to consider any option other than abortion. Pregnancy help organizations cannot both openly advocate for criminalizing women and remain safe harbors for them in their valley of decision between the life and death of their unborn child. Political advocacy for criminalization will almost certainly undercut our efforts to offer effective and compassionate care.

Jesus, similarly, responded with compassion and not condemnation when presented with or orchestrating interactions with women who were actively in sin. Even though the acts involved would have been criminal – either in civil or religious courts of that day – and leaders of the time approached Him calling for justice, Jesus extended grace and mercy.

In John 4, Jesus made Himself accessible to the woman at the well even though she was socially outcast for violating the covenant of marriage. He did not convict her of her marital status (or lack thereof) but extended the living water of salvation to her.

Then there was the woman with the issue of blood in Luke 8, who violated Jewish law by even being in the crowd in her “unclean” condition. More egregiously, according to religious laws, she reached out and touched the hem of the rabbi, Jesus. This action would have been an affront to any Jewish man, making Him ceremonially unclean and opening her to severe punishment. Yet not only did healing proceed from Jesus, but He also openly praised her faith.

Adultery was a criminal offense worthy of death for the woman we see in John 8. As a just God, He had every right and reason to exact justice. But Jesus did not condemn her. He showed mercy and even advocated for her against those who were prepared to stone her for her offense. 

The political and cultural war on life that excuses and promotes abortion requires a myriad of prophetic and practical responses. Amid war, the battlefield still tragically produces casualties even as political and diplomatic processes may be underway elsewhere to stop the fighting altogether. There is a need for medics and ministers alike serving the victims on the battlefield. In this way, pregnancy help is similar to the corps of medics who bring care and comfort to those wounded by the battle. The battlefield between the culture of death and the culture of life will cause casualties until the value for the sanctity of life carries the day.

Even then, having a law that abolishes abortion will not bring about the abolition of wounded women and men.

Presently, 21 countries prohibit abortions outright¹. Abortions are still being secured in these countries through travel, underground services, or failure (willful or otherwise) to enforce existing law. The life-saving mission of pregnancy help is practically necessary regardless of the legal status of abortion.

Abortion should, indeed, be abolished because it destroys (at least) one created in the image of God and wounds (at least) one other (the mother). All those leading the pro-life movement long for the day when abortion is not just illegal, but unthinkable—when every woman is surrounded by support and every life is protected by love. But that vision cannot be realized through condemnation alone.

Compassion, not punishment, is the path that leads women in unplanned pregnancies to healing, restoration, and life. Pregnancy help is where that path begins, offering hope in place of fear, support in place of shame, and life in place of death.

Resources for pregnancy help

• Picking Your Battles in the Boardroom
• “Our method matters” - Pregnancy help organizations cannot advocate for criminalizing women and be safe harbors for them
• Heartbeat Press Release

¹ https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-where-abortion-is-illegal

Samantha once pictured a perfect life—girl meets boy, they fall in love, get married, and raise a family behind a white picket fence. But her story took a different turn. After leaving an abusive relationship and struggling with alcohol, she moved back home to start over. A month later, she found herself on the bathroom floor, staring at two pink lines in disbelief. Within an hour, her parents knew. While they reassured her, she could only think, “This can’t be happening.”

A week later, her mother brought her to Hand of Hope Pregnancy Center. Samantha walked in with her head down, wishing it were all a mistake. But Stacey greeted her with warmth and reminded her that even if she didn’t feel okay now, one day she would. Stacey patiently talked and prayed with her until Samantha found the courage to see her baby on the ultrasound for the first time, a moment that began to change everything.

Through the women at Hand of Hope, Samantha rediscovered faith, peace, and purpose. They didn’t promise that motherhood would be easy; instead, they promised to walk beside her. Their love redefined strength for her, not in control or survival but in surrender and trust in God.

On April 4, 2025, Samantha welcomed her daughter, Zoey Grace—“a new life by grace.” Now a year sober, she continues visiting Hand of Hope each week, grateful for the family and faith that helped her turn fear into hope and pain into purpose.

In 2013, Shawnte found herself facing one of the hardest moments of her life: pregnant with her third child and abandoned by the baby’s father when she refused to have an abortion. Feeling lost and unsure of where to turn, she didn’t know that hope was already waiting just around the corner.

Her mother had unknowingly scheduled what she thought was an abortion appointment, but instead, Shawnte met someone who offered a different path, one that saved not only her baby’s life but her own. Through that encounter, she was introduced to Mary’s Shelter, a maternity home that surrounded her with love, stability, and faith when she needed it most.

On July 27, 2014, Shawnte welcomed her beautiful daughter, Bella, into the world. Today, Shawnte is an ordained minister whose experience at Mary’s Shelter continues to inspire her work. Now contracted through the court system, she helps women in similar situations find the support and strength they need to keep their children. What began as a moment of fear has become a powerful testimony of redemption, courage, and God’s grace.

When Katee first found out she was pregnant, she was just a sophomore in high school. Unsure of what to do and afraid to tell her parents, she carried the secret for months before finally opening up. That moment of honesty began a journey that would change her life forever.

Her mom brought her to Bella Vita Pregnancy Center, where Katee found compassion, encouragement, and the strength to face her fears. Surrounded by support, she began taking classes at the center and learned she didn’t have to walk this road alone.

“They didn’t make me feel less of a mom because I was so young,” she said.

Just two weeks after telling her parents, Katee went into preterm labor and delivered her son, Greyson, at only 25 weeks. The months that followed were filled with long nights in the NICU, but also with faith and perseverance. Through it all, Katee grew closer to God and discovered a new kind of bravery that would shape her as both a mom and a young woman.

Now a senior in High School, Katee is thriving. She’s continued her education, reached the state tournament in girls’ wrestling, and is preparing for another season. Most importantly, she’s raising a happy, healthy little boy who inspires her every day.

Katee wants other young women to know that life doesn’t end with an unexpected pregnancy — it’s just beginning. “I have learned so much and have become stronger because of Greyson, my son. My goals have pretty much stayed the same. The only difference is...I have Greyson.”

When Valencia first called the Confidential Care Mobile Ministry hotline, she thought she was scheduling an abortion. What she didn’t realize was that this one phone call would completely change her life. Within just a week of talking and visiting with the caring team at CCMM, Valencia made a courageous choice — she chose life.

What began as a call to end a pregnancy became a call that brought hope, strength, and new life, not only for Valencia but for all those touched by her story.

On July 27, 2022, she welcomed her beautiful daughter, Kennedi, into the world, a precious reminder of God’s grace and the power of love.

Today, Valencia and Kennedi share their story to encourage others, hoping to shine the same light that CCMM once shared with them. “The call to end life turned into the call that gave life,” Valencia says. “And it’s a light we now want to pass on.”

Answering the call to help has been a hallmark of the pregnancy help movement for more than half a century. Even before pregnancy centers existed, champions for life answered hotlines and home phones around the clock to help women facing an unplanned pregnancy.

Telehealth abortions now account for 1 in 5 abortions in the U.S., with over 70 websites offering direct delivery of abortion drugs to women’s homes. This shift challenges the traditional brick-and-mortar model of pregnancy help organizations (PHOs), which play a vital role in providing alternatives to abortion. The growing ease of access to abortion drugs online has prompted a strategic pivot—some PHOs are extending office hours and beginning to offer telecare services for initial consultations. We see a timely opportunity to partner with you to make alternatives to abortion more accessible than ever as women increasingly turn to telecare solutions.

At Option Line, we understand the importance of quickly connecting clients with local pregnancy help. Each month we warmly transfer thousands of callers to organizations like yours during regular business hours. After hours, Option Line continues to answer calls and schedule thousands of appointments each year. But we believe we can do more—together—to support today’s abortion-minded clients. That’s why we’re excited to launch Heartbeat International’s High Risk Response Network (HRRN).

What is the High Risk Response Network (HRRN)?

HRRN is a new partnership opportunity between Option Line and local pregnancy help organizations (PHOs) ready to provide telecare services for initial consultation. This network enables Heartbeat-affiliated PHOs to offer consultations to abortion-minded clients over the phone—even during hours when your physical office is closed.

Option Line will screen callers for pregnancy intention and ensure only high-risk clients are directed to your telecare services (other callers can still be scheduled for in-person visits). We will then warmly transfer the client to a dedicated phone number during your specified hours, giving you the opportunity to establish a relationship with the client right away.

As we work with affiliates in this initiative, Option Line will track network statistics such as qualified leads, effectiveness rates, and hours of availability. Participating organizations will be asked to provide quarterly outcome statistics (including conversions from virtual to in-person visits and pregnancy intentions). All compiled statistics will be available exclusively to participating PHOs.

How is HRRN different from how Option Line already works?

HRRN allows Option Line to connect abortion-minded/determined clients with your PHO instantly for a telecare initial consultation with your staff—rather than scheduling in-person visits that may occur a day or two later. While Option Line consultants are trained to offer limited consultations, the most valuable service we can provide is a direct connection to you. Time is of the essence—she has abortion at her fingertips—and we want to ensure she reaches you first.

Option Line will screen to ensure only high-risk clients are connected to you after hours, and will continue to facilitate scheduling of in-person visits for lower-risk clients. HRRN offers the opportunity to expand your radius of service within your region or statewide (if you choose) and reserves your after-hours telecare for high-risk clients. We hope to identify at least one partnering organization per state for this important initiative.

What are the requirements to participate?

• PHO staff or volunteers supporting HRRN should be adequately trained to serve clients in a virtual setting. (The Heartbeat Academy is a great place to start! Telecare Toolkit & Preparing to Offer Telecare)
  
• Offer a minimum of 4 hours of virtual availability per week outside of standard 9am–5pm business hours, in minimum 2-hour blocks.
• Provide a dedicated HRRN phone number (or set up internal call forwarding if multiple staff support the line).
• Submit a consistent, weekly HRRN schedule upon registration.
• Report quarterly statistics as outlined.

There is no cost to participate!

How do I sign up?

To get started, please complete the registration form and provide the information below:

1. Name of your center
2. Primary contact person and email address
3. Dedicated HRRN phone number
4. Your HRRN hours of availability
5. Whether you are open to receiving calls statewide or just in your immediate area

Sign me up

Not ready to sign up—want to learn more?

Heartbeat’s Academy offers valuable resources for PHOs launching telecare services. Helpful training programs include:

• Telecare Toolkit
• Preparing to Offer Telecare

And don’t worry—if you aren’t ready to sign up yet, Option Line is available 24/7 to serve as a bridge to your center and support appointment scheduling. For more information about HRRN or Option Line, please reach out to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Here is a Fall update regarding legal actions defending the rights of women to access Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) and the rights of the organizations that support them to speak their lifesaving message. Your continued prayers and service are crucial as these cases progress.

California:
Heartbeat International along with our affiliate in California is defending against a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Rob Bonta, which seeks to block us from informing women about APR as "safe and effective." This lawsuit attempts to withhold life-saving information from women who may immediately regret a chemical abortion and wish to preserve their pregnancy. With representation from the Thomas More Society, Heartbeat and partners are actively defending APR and have provided depositions from mothers who successfully reversed abortions, doctors who oversee reversals, and research experts. At this time, we are scheduled for a hearing in April 2026. 

New York:
Heartbeat International, alongside a collective of pregnancy help organizations, has filed a lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James for violations of fundamental rights, including freedom of speech, free exercise of religion, equal protection, and civil rights. Represented pro bono by the Thomas More Society, this action challenges the targeting of life-affirming pregnancy help organizations for offering alternatives to abortion. The case is set to continue in Manhattan, with a hearing on Heartbeat's anti-SLAPP motion coming up soon.

In both New York and California, these lawsuits represent an unprecedented effort by state authorities to prevent pregnancy help organizations from informing women about this life-saving protocol. Despite scientific evidence and thousands of successful cases, the states are attempting to silence the compassionate care and support these organizations provide.

Colorado:
Some great news for APRN! This August, a federal judge in Colorado blocked certain enforcement of a state law that prevented medical professionals from providing women with Abortion Pill Reversal services. The ruling ensures that APR will be available to the women of this state now and in the future.

Even amid legal attacks, our priority is clear: women deserve access to information and support that empowers them to try to save their pregnancies. APR is a scientifically supported, life-saving option, and we remain committed to defending it.

We ask that you join us in prayer for wisdom, courage, and protection for the women we serve, our APR providers, and the families impacted by these cases. Together, we can continue to ensure that no woman is forced to complete an abortion she no longer wants.

Even more great news!

Even as we walk through these legal scenarios, we are on target to have a record-breaking number of women start Abortion Pill Reversal this year! Lives are being saved in spite of Attorneys General trying to silence our efforts. God is so good, and He can overcome all that is intended for harm in this world.

Thank you for being a part of this mighty effort. Our statistics show us that more than 7,000 lives have been saved so far through APR and that is in no small part thanks to your courageous efforts. Thank you for all you do to save lives.