News
Baby Safe
In Fishhoek, South Africa, "Marc and Veronica" hold their newly adopted baby girl and praise God that, after six long years of waiting, He has answered their prayers.
Cradling their daughter, "Jenna", in their arms at the site where she was left by her birth mother, the beaming parents know firsthand the value of the work Baby Safe International is doing.
For Marc and Veronica, the thought of Jenna’s probable fate without Baby Safe’s life-saving innovation is unimaginable. At just a day old, Jenna would likely have been a victim of infanticide—infant exposure—had it not been for the availability of Baby Safe’s deposit box, which empowers desperate mothers with a real choice to preserve the life of their baby.
In South Africa, “baby dumping,” as it is called, is an increasingly common occurrence in both rural and urban areas. Some babies are found in plastic bags in rubbish heaps, others in storm drains, abandoned fields, ditches, alleys, or even in rural homemade toilets.
Some of these children are found, thankfully, alive, while others are found dead—upwards of 500 in the Western Cape of South Africa in 2010 alone—and still more are never found. This sad fact tells us that baby dumping is, by its very nature, widely unreported.
Baby Safe, a nonprofit Heartbeat International affiliate, specifically targets this injustice in its region, just outside of Cape Town, by producing and distributing “baby safes,” where mothers can leave their babies anonymously as a real alternative to the horror of infanticide.
The box has a variety of safety features to insure that proper care will be given to the baby who is left by his or her mother. When a baby’s weight is detected inside the safe, a team of dedicated staff are immediately notified, while a safety backup system assures the baby will be promptly rescued by Baby Safe volunteers.
Through the production and distribution of these boxes, Baby Safe is carefully building a network that enables desperate mothers to choose life for their babies. This network is spreading throughout South Africa, and has broken through the northeastern border to Swaziland.
While its visible efforts are focused on providing an alternative to infanticide for desperate mothers, Baby Safe’s long-term vision is to connect with at-risk women before they reach the point of dumping their babies, with holistic direction that includes Bible studies, parenting classes, nutrition education, and even exercise and dance classes.
To learn more about Baby Safe, and to find out how you can help, visit TheBabySafe.org.
Surrender the Secret
Tyndale House
A bright spot on the horizon for the pro-life community
by Ellen Foell, Esq.
The pro-life movement delivered a blow to the Health and Human Services birth control mandate Nov. 16, as the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a preliminary injunction to prevent the Obama administration from enforcing the requirement on Tyndale House Publishers.
This is a very bright spot on an otherwise dim horizon for the pro-life community.
Challenges to HHS regulations have consistently appeared in the news, and this is the third ruling of its kind since President Barack Obama signed the bill into law March 23, 2010.
The law, in part, demands that all employers—with very limited, narrow exceptions—who offer insurance to their employees either become Obamacare-compliant, including coverage of contraception, abortifacients and elective abortions, or face severe financial penalties.
Since Tyndale House is a for-profit publishing company, it does not fall under the narrow exemption guidelines, even though its books and publications are religious in nature. Tyndale House currently provides its employees with health insurance that specifically does not cover abortifacients, including Plan B and ella.
Represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, Tyndale House successfully argued that the mandate’s enforcement would violate its rights under the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The court agreed, ruling that enforcement of HHS regulations would substantially burden the organization’s free exercise of religion.
“Bible publishers should be free to do business according to the book that they publish,” Alliance Defending Freedom’s Matt Bowman said in a statement posted on the legal ministry’s website.
For more information, click here and here.
Happy Thanksgiving
What is Heartbeat thankful for?
We wish you and your family a very blessed and safe Thanksgiving weekend!
The Future of Our Movement
Join the fight for life right now. Help us send 1.2 million red postcards to the President on January 22 urging him to honor life from conception until natural death.
The results of the election are not surprising, given the polls and predictions in advance. However, they are nonetheless shocking and sobering. Voters have chosen to confirm an Administration in Washington, D.C. that has undertaken the greatest expansion of abortion since Roe vs. Wade forty years ago.
It is heartbreaking and distressing to see that our nation will continue being driven down this path for another four years; a decision that will, of course, drive the rest of the world more deeply into a culture of death.
This “choice” means that more babies will be killed through abortion and abortifacients, more mothers and fathers will suffer harm, more families will be destroyed, and our nation will slip further away (in national policy matters) from our Christian roots and founding principles—especially the principle that we are endowed with unalienable rights, the first of which is the right to life; and the principle, enshrined as the first right in our Bill of Rights, of freedom of religion.
It is a frightening time. But, as Christians, we know that the Lord has won victory over death. We know that the Lord is still with us, and that He can do mighty deeds! We never give up hope, never despair.
Today and going forward, Heartbeat International continues to start, strengthen, defend, and support pregnancy help ministries all over the world.
Today and going forward, Heartbeat continues to answer the call at Option Line®, 24/7, via the phone (800 712 HELP), internet (OptionLine.org), live chat, and email, connecting those in need to life-saving help in their own community.
Everything we do saves lives and advances a culture of life. We continue to do what God is calling us to do.
One of my favorite reminders from Holy Scripture is Psalm 20:7, “Some put their hope in horses and chariots, but we put our hope in the Lord our God.” How seemingly “old-fashioned” to put hope in horse and chariots when we now have atomic weapons and spaceships that explore outer space! Yet, at one point in the history of the world, horses and chariots were the most powerful war implements imaginable. The things of this world are ever-changing, including technology and political power. But God does not change. He can always bring life from death.
We will continue full speed ahead! We know the Lord will bring many fruits from our labors, as He always has. We are willing to bear any burden to assert our right, as a Christian organization, to do what we are called to do, even in an increasingly anti-Christian atmosphere. We will continue the fight for LIFE, armed with His love and empowered by His grace. We covet your continued prayers for courage, wisdom, protection, and success.
You make all of this possible with your support, prayers, and partnership. Thank you!
Don’t Give Up, Rise Up!
One more telemarketer. One more commercial. One more debate. One more biased media pundit spouting forth an opinion.
It is easy to become battle-weary by this time in an election year.
In fact, it is so much easier to turn off the television or computer, flip through the newspaper to the crossword puzzle, and completely ignore the election activities altogether. It is exhausting and discouraging. However, exhaustion and discouragement are not good destinations for the Christian, not to mention for those of us engaged in the pregnancy help movement.
The stakes are high, and those who come behind us are looking to us to do what the Lord is calling us to do. So how do we shake off the ever-heavier blanket of despondency and discouragement? Perhaps we can all take a page out of a playbook I have come to trust and rely upon.
Along with many others, I had waited with much anticipation for the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case challenging the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”), National Federation Of Independent Business Et Al. v. Sebelius, Secretary Of Health And Human Services, Et Al., (No. 11–393, June 28, 2012).
The morning the ruling was to be announced, I delayed going to work because I wanted to hear the report live. Not being able to focus at home, I finally got in the car and I heard the commentaries begin.
I was frustrated, floored, furious and frankly, befuddled. Like many attorneys, I could have predicted the vote for most of the judges. However, I was not in any way prepared for the vote of Chief Justice Roberts, not to mention his majority opinion that upheld the PPACA as a tax. I felt betrayed and dejected. I was so disheartened.
However, that night, as I read my daily devotionals, I came across the following verses in Psalm 11, written thousands of years earlier, but in strangely similar times:
Flee as a bird to your mountain;
For, behold, the wicked bend the bow,
They make ready their arrow upon the string
To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?
David, the writer of the psalm, had the obvious pointed out to him—the foundations are destroyed. Flee!
King Saul had attempted to kill David many times. Imagine the tragedy of Saul, the very king of Israel, handpicked by God, constantly seeking to destroy the Lord’s anointed. What could David do? To whom could he appeal?
David’s appeal was to the Lord, the King of Kings and the Captain of the Hosts:
In the Lord I take refuge
The Lord is in His holy temple;
The Lord’s throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
And the one who loves violence His soul hates.
Upon the wicked He will rain snares;
Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.
For the Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness;
The upright will behold His face.
In a way, I felt as if the very foundations had been destroyed. If the Supreme Court could not see the unconstitutionality of the PPACA, what recourse was there? As I was taught in law school, the Supreme Court is the court of last resort not because it is always right; rather, it is right because it is the court of last resort.
So now what? My natural reaction was to flee. Surely Antarctica could use a decent lawyer. But no…fleeing was not an option. Ignoring the whole process was not an option, either. Dedicated ostriching is not a possibility. My main temptation was to give up. What could one person do? What could even the entire united church do?
But in the end, I was encouraged by the truth that God reigns. The Lord is sovereign. Yes, he reigns over even the heart of the king. “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.” (Proverbs 21:1 )
If we honestly believe God is sovereignty in control, then even when we grow battle-weary, we will not give up. We will rise up. God is still on the throne. Even when it seems the foundations are being destroyed, God is an unshakable refuge for His people.
We, as those who find our righteousness in God’s anointed—the Son of David—will one day behold His face. We have a solid, unshakable hope, but it’s not one merely set aside for the by-and-by. It has implications for us in the here and now.
What is in our hands to do? Right now it is the election. Beloved, we need to vote, get out the vote and speak truthfully to those who look to us for guidance.
The Lord, who tests the hearts of the righteous and the wicked, loves righteousness, and He loves to see righteousness done—in every facet of life and at every level of private and public life.
People of God, don’t give up. Rise up!
Rick Santorum endorses Heartbeat's Option Line®
Pregnancy help centers are good for America.
This true and essential message is now being touted by Rick Santorum through his political advocacy group, Patriot Voices.
Launched in June, Patriot Voices brings awareness to one charity per month, and “crisis pregnancy centers” are in its sights for the month of October. In speaking of the pregnancy help movement, Patriot Voices specifically refers its audience to Heartbeat International’s Option Line®, and www.OptionLine.org.
Every woman deserves to be loved and supported during an unexpected pregnancy, and pregnancy help centers do just that, valuing the life and health of both mothers and their precious babies.
Option Line serves as a vital connection point between women experiencing an unexpected pregnancy and their local pregnancy help centers. As Patriot Voices points out in its recent correspondence, Option Line is also an excellent way to find a nearby pregnancy help center that needs your support and involvement.
Visit www.OptionLine.org and find your local pregnancy help center today!
Under Watch
Investigating the pregnancy help movement
Known abortion advocate and self-proclaimed investigative reporter Katie Stack has recently gone undercover to more than 30 pregnancy help organizations (PHO) in attempt to smear the work of the pregnancy help movement.
Honored by organizations such as NARAL and NOW, Stack has consistently spoken out against the work of our movement, and the information we provide. Unfortunately, she has received publicity on the national level, including an opinion piece in The New York Times that criticizes both PHOs and Heartbeat's Babies Go to Congress event. This event gives our affiliates the opportunity to share stories with their local congressmen of moms and babies helped by centers in their communities.
There continues to be a concerted effort by the opposition to publish negative reports and use potentially viral videos – especially among young people – to spout falsehoods, misinformation, and spurious allegations attempting to discredit PHOs. Stack has made it her mission to spread the false information NARAL and others so readily tout.
Heartbeat has created tools to help shield our affiliates from these attacks. We cannot guarantee that Stack and others like her will not enter our centers. We can tell you, however, that if our affiliate organizations follow the Commitment of Care and Competence, they are doing their part to protect their center and the women they serve.
Our Commitment of Care and Competence was designed to dispel the abortion activists’ false accusations, and to form the basis for strong client-services approval ratings. This commitment is the standard for affiliation with Heartbeat.
Heartbeat is here for our affiliates. Remember, our first response is always to join you in prayer, remembering that God will work all things together for our good.
“The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”
- Psalm 27:1
Get out the vote: Education
Get out the Vote: 5 Free Downloads!
We are less than 30 days away from the election … is anyone else tired of campaign commercials?
It seems that the ads get more malicious and frequent every election season. As pro-life voters, we must strive to see past the “smoke screens” and educate ourselves on the issues. We have pulled together many free resources and educational tools for you to use leading up to November 6. These tools will inform you about where the candidates stand on issues like abortion and the sanctity of human life.
No matter the outcome of the election on November 6th, there will still be a great need for pregnancy help organizations. No politician can reach and rescue lives from abortion in their own communities like a pregnancy help center can! More than policies, women need a personal touch from someone who cares.
With your support, Heartbeat International comes alongside these centers to provide the help and support they need to save as many lives as possible. We can’t do this life-saving work without you! Help us connect women to their pregnancy help organization one life at a time by partnering with us today.
More...
Remembering Roe Unites Pro-Life Movement
RememberingRoe.com Calls Pro-life Movement to Reflect, Repent, Restore
By Virginia Cline
How could we fail to acknowledge the more than 54 million children aborted in the U.S. since the horrific Roe v. Wade decision on Jan. 22, 1973—the most tragic and unforgettable landmark date?
The upcoming presidential inauguration is planned for Jan. 21, 2013, causing a shift of the March for Life to that Friday, leaving the anniversary without acknowledgement. Heartbeat International and at least 10 other partnering pro-life organizations did not want the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade to pass without a national day of prayer and fasting, so they created RememberingRoe.com.
RememberingRoe.com promotes a day of remembrance and hosts a variety of interactive tools, featuring an opportunity to sign up for a national hour of prayer via webcast on Jan. 22, 2013, beginning at 3 p.m. EST led by the National Pro-life Religious Council.
This site is also the driver for a national red card campaign to send 1.2 million pro-life postcards to the president in order to remember the 1.2 million victims of abortion each year in the U.S. alone. Democrat or Republican, the leader of the free world needs to hear from Americans about the sanctity of every human life on the 40th anniversary of Roe. For a small donation, visitors can sign up for a red card—personalized with their name—to be delivered to the White House on Jan. 22, 2013.
Forty years of destroying life in the womb is the battle defining our society. The promotion of aborting a child as “choice” has endangered our very civilization by attacking the dignity of human life and denigrating motherhood. The escalating evil of abortion calls for a supernatural response found only in the unity of every pro-life person in America imploring Heaven’s intercession.
For this day, Jan. 22, 2013, we challenge every pro-life individual to kneel together as one nation under God and call upon Him as we remember, reflect, repent and plead for restoration.
Abortion is the deadliest battle of good vs. evil in our lifetime, and the strongest weapon against this kind of evil is prayer and fasting. Our hope is that members of the pro-life movement recognize the significance of this important defense in the battle of life and connect with RememberingRoe.com.
There’s a place at the site to share your prayer and your story of how you first heard about Roe v. Wade. Some of us are old enough to remember exactly where we were when we learned about the now infamous U.S. Supreme Court decision. For those born after Roe—the generation that survived Roe—you are invited to share your reflections on when and how you learned that the Supreme Court had determined that every woman has a right to abort her baby.
I remember my father’s tears on January 22, 1973. It was the first time I had ever seen him cry. I was 11 years old when I found him crumpled up on the stairs, shuddering, with his folded hands pressed to his face as he sobbed. I will never forget how he was curled up in the fetal position as he wept. It took him no less than 10 minutes to choke out the fact that seven men on the Supreme Court had decided it should be legal for a mother to abort her baby. On that particularly bleak Monday afternoon, he cried for the millions of babies he knew would die at the hand of Roe.
My pro-life passion was ignited that day after witnessing my father’s heartbreak and hearing his cries: “I could have done more. I should have done more to stop abortion.”
Imagine if our stories listed online at RememberingRoe.com inspired Christians everywhere to do more to help each mother reject the choice to abort her child.
Click here and share your story.
The goal of RememberingRoe.com and the goal of Heartbeat International is to make abortion unwanted now and unthinkable for future generations. The Holy Spirit has the power to enkindle in us the fire of compassionate love so that the pro-life movement can renew the face of the earth for LIFE. Let us unite so that we may never forget.
Remembering Roe
Site Launched to Unite Pro-Life Movement in National Day of Prayer, Reflection
COLUMBUS, OH – With the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision approaching, Heartbeat International and at least 10 other pro-life organizations are partnering to launch RememberingRoe.com, an interactive website commemorating Jan. 22, 1973, the day abortion became legal in the U.S.
The site offers interactive tools and historical information regarding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to federally legalize abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. RememberingRoe.com serves as the hosting platform for a national hour of prayer via webcast Jan. 22, 2013, beginning at 3 p.m. EST.
Visitors can register without charge for the online prayer hour at RememberingRoe.com beginning immediately and up until the time of the event, which will be led by the National Pro-Life Religious Council.
For a small donation, visitors can also sign up for a red postcard, personalized with their name, to be delivered to the president on Jan. 22, 2013, reminding him of the importance of every human life. Organizers hope to deliver 1.2 million postcards to the White House, symbolizing the number of children aborted in the U.S. each year.
Additionally, RememberingRoe.com provides an outlet for visitors to share where they were when they heard about this shocking legal decision, and how they plan to pray for an end to abortion. Visitors can watch videos of spokespersons from sponsoring organizations, discussing how they have been affected by Roe v. Wade.
Organizers are urging members of the pro-life movement across the nation to observe a full day of prayer and fasting on the date of the anniversary, asking God for an end to abortion — which has produced over 54 million aborted children in the U.S. since 1973 — and bring about a restored, life-affirming culture to the nation and around the world.
Confirmed sponsors include: Heartbeat International, Option Line, March for Life, Concepts of Truth, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, Good Counsel, Life Legal Defense Foundation, National Pro-Life Religious Council, NIFLA, Priests for Life, and Students for Life.
The National Pro-life Religious Council is a Christian coalition which acknowledges Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and is called to affirm and witness to the Biblical standard of the value, dignity, and sanctity of human life.
Founded in 1971, Heartbeat International is the first pregnancy support association in the U.S. Heartbeat’s Option Line (1-800-712-HELP/OptionLine.org) connects women facing unexpected pregnancies with the emotional support and practical help they need to welcome new life.
We need YOU!
Pro-life movement needs precinct captains
By Virginia Cline
Maybe you didn’t know it, but there could be political vacancies right within your local community that need your pro-life leadership. Based in your neighborhood, the most local level of political office is that of precinct captain.
In the U.S., a precinct captain (also referred to as a central committee member or a precinct chairperson) acts as a liaison between a specific political party and the voters of a local precinct. Precinct captains are elected by their neighbors, and generally serve as volunteers, though in some cases they receive a small stipend from their respective political party.
A precinct captain serves his or her community by:
- Facilitating voter registration and absentee ballot access
- Leading “Get Out the Vote” outreach efforts
- Assisting with voters’ transportation to the polls
- Distributing party literature
- Promoting his or her respective political organization
As an informed voter, concerned with pro-life values, you can start by finding out who your precinct captain is, then educating him or her about pro-life issues on a regular basis. Search online to obtain a list of your county’s precinct captains by entering your political party, along with your county and state.
I found the list of my county’s precinct captains under the “Committee” tab on my party’s website. There are 143 precincts listed for my county, with 21 vacancies for precinct captain. In the next few weeks, I plan to look through those vacancies to see if I can match them to the precincts where my pro-life friends live. The next step is to encourage them to contact their local party representatives and express interest in becoming a precinct captain.
In your effort to get your friends involved as precinct captains this November, don’t miss out on the chance to serve your community by seeking to become one yourself.
The pro-life movement needs precinct captains. Your precinct’s leadership position may be vacant, or your current precinct captain may not be seeking reelection. Consider getting more involved, while encouraging your pro-life friends to join you in taking an active role in the electoral process.
Learn more about becoming a precinct captain today, and help advance the pro-life cause through the political process in your community for years to come. To find out how you can impact future elections through your local precinct captain position, watch this simple, straightforward presentation: http://instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=30560385.
Visit our Get Out the Vote page today!
Your vote was critical this November 5th.
As we reflect on the recent election results, Heartbeat International President Jor-El Godsey shares an encouraging update on where we stand. Despite the mixed outcomes, there is both good news and opportunity ahead. Join us in this powerful message as Jor-El explains why life-affirming work remains essential—now more than ever—as we continue helping women across the nation embrace hope and confidently choose life. Watch to see how your support makes a difference every day.
It’s not just your vote that will save future generations. Every vote from the entire pro-life community is needed to expose and stop the greatest government expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade. Click here to learn more about abortion initiatives around the country, including the 10 states that have an abortion amendment on the ballot in 2024.
Watch this video to learn how voting for life impacts pregnancy help:
Here are three steps to GOTV today:
| 1. | Remind other U.S. citizens about the sacred duty of voting as the first step to GOTV. Future generations are counting on you to activate everyone you know. Encouraging each person in your circle of influence to become a registered voter is crucial. |
| 2. | Educating other voters is the second step to GOTV. We need elected officials who are willing to advance solutions instead of abortions. Voters need to understand where each candidate stands on life. It’s time to galvanize everyone in your community to ensure that pregnancy help organizations can continue providing life-honoring support without government overreach. |
| 3. | Pray. Forcing pro-life citizens to pay for abortions and to provide abortion-causing drugs goes against our American tradition of religious liberty and destroys our nation’s moral compass. It was Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the third U.S. president, who said: “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.” U.S. voters know that abortion is devastating to Americans. We all know that aborting a child is not healthcare. America needs elected officials willing to advance a culture of life. America needs people with a passion for life to inspire others to vote. Your prayer is paramount to this mission. |
You are a vital part of the pro-life mission. Please help voters realize that compassionate help and unconditional love empower mothers to welcome the next generation.
Voting your pro-life values and motivating others to do the same can make abortion unthinkable for future generations.
Votes save lives.
4 Myths About Voting This Election Season
We all know we should be voting, but is it really that important?
The United States has a surprisingly low turnout of voters, hovering between 55 and 60 percent in any given election. Why can’t we find it in ourselves to get out there and vote for our values? Could it be that we believe one or more of these myths?
Myth #1: My vote doesn't matter since the Electoral College selects the president anyway.
Voting determines the electors of the Electoral College. When the candidate who wins the popular vote has been determined for their state, the elector will cast their vote for President. This means that your vote is absolutely imperative in the election of our President.
Myth #2: Ballot Initiatives don't matter compared to the Presidential Election.
This year, 10 states have an abortion amendment on the ballot. Changes to your state's constitution hold a lot of power despite who is elected President. Voting your values, in any election season, gives a voice to those who have none.
Myth #3: My vote doesn’t make a difference.
We’ve heard this one before. Every vote matters. Every single vote matters. Every life changes the world in an unrepeatable and irreplaceable way. And so does every vote. If we stay home on Election Day, our pro-life candidates will have to stay home too! What we do and don’t do makes a difference, so let’s make it a positive one.
Myth #4: I can’t talk about political issues or encourage others to vote.
Untrue! While certain regulations may apply to certain organizations, you are well within your rights as an individual citizen to encourage those within your sphere of influence to head to the polls. There is everything to gain and nothing to lose when we encourage our community to vote for their values.
Don’t believe these myths this season—vote your values instead. Generations yet to be born are counting on us!