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by Virginia Cline
Advancing Pro-Child Policies
As the federal government mandates insurance coverage for contraceptives, including abortion-causing drugs, and promulgates additional rules for implementing Obamacare, Americans may be forced to pay for the heinous practice of abortion. Heartbeat International was on Capitol Hill recently leading moms who want to advance pro-child policies at the national level.
These moms are former clients of Heartbeat’s pregnancy help organizations who, when given the help they needed, each chose life for her child.
Central planners or those opposed to women having children in unstable economic situations, embrace abortion and abortifacients as a way of limiting the non-taxpaying population in a nationalized healthcare program. Often referred to as “family planning,” abortion is abhorrent to the majority of Americans. When hard working taxpayers are forced to pay for abortion, most will face a moral dilemma as distressing as being asked to assist in aborting a child.
While the most pro-abortion administration in the history of the United States promotes taxpayer sponsored abortion and mandates anti-child policies, because it’s cheaper to not have children, Heartbeat has a heightened responsibility to clarify for U.S. lawmakers the importance of alternatives to abortion. In fact, the only way to ensure that a woman is not coerced or forced into aborting her baby is to make sure there are always nonprofit pregnancy help organizations and that women know how to find them.
For more than 40 years, Heartbeat’s pregnancy help network has been providing emotional support and practical resources to women who have faced untimely pregnancies. On July 19, pregnancy center clients who refused to sacrifice their children, often despite pressure to abort, joined Heartbeat International President Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D. in our nation’s capital to publicly proclaim their gratitude for the life-saving work of pregnancy centers.
These women are thrilled to have an opportunity to tell their stories to national leaders. Courageous moms like Jessica Gore, who was excited to bring her eight-year-old daughter to meet her elected officials, testified to the fact that pregnancy help organizations provide a life-changing experience.
“I went to the sonogram appointment at Burleson Pregnancy Aid Center even though I had already been to Planned Parenthood and thought that abortion was right for me,” said Jessica from Burleson, Texas. “But when I looked at the sonogram screen, I knew that I had been lied to. What I saw on the screen was not a ‘piece of tissue’ like Planned Parenthood had told me. The tiny flicker of light, a heartbeat, was my child. I was instantly in love.”
“I would have been lost without the guidance of the Pregnancy Aid Center,” said Jessica. “Through their programs I learned how to care for my infant daughter. I would not be the person I am today if it hadn’t been for the caring people of the Burleson Pregnancy Aid Center and the experiences I’ve had there. Without them, my daughter would not be alive and I cannot imagine my life without her.”
Shelly Louis, of Durant, Oklahoma, is another mom who took the opportunity to let congress know that pregnancy help centers are good for women.
“Unmarried, financially insecure, and six weeks pregnant with my third child…abortion was a very real option for me,” said Shelly. “Since I was receiving no assistance from the baby’s father and he was encouraging me to terminate the pregnancy, I chose to seek an abortion.”
But Shelly quickly discovered she couldn’t go through with it. After an emotional breakdown, a teacher told her about the Pregnancy Center of Bryan 
County.
“Only because of their encouragement and compassion was I able to think clearly about my options and make the right choice to protect the life of my unborn child. My arrangements to visit the abortion clinic were cancelled and Kiree’s life was saved,” said Shelly.
“The support of the Pregnancy Center did not stop there. During my entire pregnancy, I attended weekly lessons, which taught me numerous things about the prenatal process and how to care for Kiree after she was born. By attending these lessons, I earned Mommy Money, which I used to ‘purchase’ clothes, shoes, blankets, diapers, and wipes in the on-site Mommy Market,” said Shelly.
Like these courageous moms, voters need to remind policy makers that abortion is not healthcare.
Forcing pro-life citizens to pay for abortions, or abortion-causing drugs, goes against our American tradition. It was Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States, who said, “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”
You can call for the repeal of Obamacare by contacting your elected officials over the phone, in a letter, or in an email. If your representative supports taxpayer funded abortion, you can vote them out of office on November 6th.
Please join with us in encouraging elected officials to advance pro-child policies that begin with promoting the life-saving work of pregnancy help organizations so that Heartbeat International’s compassionate network can empower even more women to welcome the next generation.
To find your nearest pregnancy help organization, simply visit Heartbeat’s OptionLine.org.
Rejecting Abortion
Grateful Moms tell Congress about Compassionate Pregnancy Centers
Women who received support from pregnancy help centers and rejected abortion are bringing their children to meet with U.S. lawmakers as part of Heartbeat’s Babies Go to Congress® on July 19.
“Every woman deserves support during an unexpected pregnancy,” said Heartbeat International President Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D. “And when women receive unconditional love along with the practical help necessary to welcome new life, they want policy makers to know that they are grateful. Because of this, Heartbeat International developed Babies Go to Congress® to give moms, served by a pregnancy help center, the opportunity to introduce their babies, who were at risk of abortion, to their elected officials.”
Women have been thanking pregnancy help organizations for their support for decades and these moms are thrilled to have an opportunity to tell their stories to national leaders. Courageous women like Jessica Gore, who is excited to bring her eight-year-old daughter to meet her elected officials, will testify to the fact that pregnancy help organizations provide a life-changing experience.
“I went to the sonogram appointment at Burleson Pregnancy Aid Center even though I had already been to Planned Parenthood and thought that abortion was right for me,” said Jessica from Burleson, Texas. “But when I looked at the sonogram screen, I knew that I had been lied to. What I saw on the screen was not a ‘piece of tissue’ like Planned Parenthood had told me. The tiny flicker of light, a heartbeat, was my child. I was instantly in love.”
“I would have been lost without the guidance of the Pregnancy Aid Center,” said Jessica. “Through their programs I learned how to care for my infant daughter. I would not be the person I am today if it hadn’t been for the caring people of the Burleson Pregnancy Aid Center and the experiences I’ve had there. Without them, my daughter would not be alive and I cannot imagine my life without her.”
Heartbeat’s pregnancy help network of care provides all the facts on abortion – from post-abortion stress to possible medical complications – facts that abortion facilities often leave out. Heartbeat’s compassionate network is dedicated to safeguarding maternal health and protecting child wellbeing necessary to sustain a healthy pregnancy.
Founded in 1971 as Alternatives to Abortion, Heartbeat International is the first pregnancy support association in the U.S., the most expansive in the world with 1,343 affiliates in 50 countries, and the most inclusive membership with pregnancy help centers, life-honoring medical clinics, maternity homes, and nonprofit adoption agencies. 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.
The Supreme Court decision, National Federation of Independent Businesses et al v. Sevelius, Sec of Health and Human Services, upholds the constitutionality of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare).
Don’t be discouraged! This will not stop or slow down Heartbeat, Option Line, and our affiliated pregnancy help ministries that save babies, help women and families, and create a culture of life at the grassroots level, 365 days a year.
Pro-life efforts must be directed to repealing this law and to stopping the promotion of abortion and all other so-called “reproductive health care” that are part of the law and implementation rules coming from this administration. We are now led by the most pro-abortion President and Cabinet members (especially Secretary of Health and Human Services) that we have ever had in the history of our country. The fact is that we have the right to elect new leaders and change existing laws.
Now is the time to get more involved, speak up, and turn out the vote.
Heartbeat International will be doing everything possible within our capability as a non-profit, charitable and religious organization to get people registered to vote and to help everyone know what is at stake and where candidates stand. The November 6 election is crucial and your participation is vital if we hope to turn our country back toward the core values on which we were founded:
• Liberty (especially freedom of religion) and
• Life, endowed by our Creator
If we must live with laws or regulations that deeply violate our consciences, civil disobedience and its consequences may be our only alternative.
Our hope is in the Lord. Let us pray and fast for God’s forgiveness for the sin of abortion and for His grace and protection for us as pro-life citizens, for our leaders, and for our country.
Yours in Christ,
Margaret H. Hartshorn, Ph.D., President
Four ways to get involved:
Option Line is connecting women to life-saving help!
Exciting reports from Heartbeat’s Option Line are pouring in! Every day women in crisis are being connected to their local pregnancy help centers where they can receive life-saving help and support. We want to share two recent connections told by our Option Line consultants:
Julie: Monday I received a chat from a 19-year-old girl. She was scheduled to have an abortion on Wednesday. However, from our conversation I could tell that she was extremely conflicted about the appointment. She openly shared with me that she viewed abortion as killing a life. When she told me this I knew she did not truly want to go through with the abortion.
As we chatted, I discovered that her boyfriend had made the appointment for her. He was very controlling and threatened to abandon her. The girl had no intention of staying with her boyfriend long-term but feared that she could not stay in college or make it financially on her own.
I asked her what her mom would say about her decision. She said her mom would tell her to keep the baby. At that point we had a breakthrough! The girl decided to cancel her abortion appointment that day and to make an appointment with her local pregnancy help center!
Dawn: About a month ago, I spoke with a woman in her 20’s who had just found out that she was pregnant. The woman had many medical issues. She had multiple sclerosis, obsessive compulsive disorder, and bi-polar disorder. Due to her medical conditions she was on a lot of medication. Doctors warned her that if she carried her baby to term she would give birth to a special needs child.
The woman was very confused and afraid because she wanted to keep her baby so badly. I encouraged her to seek a second opinion before making any final decisions. I told her that she had options and that help is available. She decided that day to make an appointment at her local pregnancy help center where they could refer her to a doctor for a second opinion and encourage her to choose life for her baby.
Because of partners like you, women can contact Option Line every day — abortion-vulnerable women who don't know where to turn for help. Option Line consultants are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, answering in both English and Spanish. Our trained consultants answer questions while connecting women with their local pregnancy help center where they will receive one-on-one compassionate support.
Thank you for making it possible for Option Line to continue to answer the call!
It’s not new, it’s just our turn! Basil of Caesarea (329–379) was the leading pastor, theologian, and proponent of orthodox Christianity. When he learned that abortion was present and legal in Caesarea, he preached boldly from the Scriptures on the sanctity of human life. He called his church members to personally and actively intervene and help women facing difficult pregnancies, just as we are doing today. According to historian, George Grant, Basil’s work inspired the Emperor Valentinian to criminalize abortion in 374. The work before us is not new, it’s just our turn.
Answering the call to cherish and defend innocent human life, the modern pro-life movement surged forward as a predominantly Catholic effort in the 60’s. It was flooded with Evangelical energy in the 80’s—the second wave of the pro-life movement. The “Third Wave” points to the triumphant progress to be expected when the Black and Latino Christian community not only join, but lead, the Pregnancy HELP Movement.
Heartbeat International is praying for a “Third Wave” of minority leadership and participation in our movement. We are irrevocably committed to urban initiatives. This means identifying the neediest neighborhoods of America, the most abortion-plagued communities of our nation’s largest cities, and working through the local Christian community to establish ultrasound-equipped pregnancy help centers and maternity homes. We currently have urban initiatives in Miami, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh. We are calling our affiliates to “go urban” as they plan for expansion. We are asking Black and Latino Christians already working in our affiliate ministries to step into national leadership and training. Our ranks are slowly but surely swelling with minority leaders. And we are collaborating, where possible, with minority-focused pro-life organizations linked here.
Probably the most Abortion-Targeted Neighborhood in America
Heartbeat serves as the leadership supply line for the growing Pregnancy HELP Movement worldwide. We train and equip Christian community leaders in the establishment of life-affirming, Christian-supported pregnancy help centers, ultrasound-equipped pregnancy help medical clinics, maternity homes for women and children, and non-profit adoption agencies. Local pregnancy help ministries provide women and couples the help they need to choose life, prepare to parent, or place for adoption.
As new directors arrive to lead pregnancy help ministries, Heartbeat provides them with foundational management and leadership training as well as intensive leadership assessment, and equips them with specialized resources. For example, they return home with Heartbeat’s counselor training manual, The Love Approach. Pregnancy help ministry leaders use it to train their staff and volunteers to serve women at risk for abortion with sensitivity, care, competence, and confidence.
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Heartbeat's Life-Saving Vision is a world where every new life is welcomed and children are nurtured within strong families, according to God’s Plan, so that abortion is unthinkable.
Heartbeat's Life-Saving Mission is to Reach and Rescue as many lives as possible through an effective global network of life-affirming pregnancy help that Renews communities for LIFE.
To achieve our mission, we:
On November 13, 1971, Dr. John Hillabrand, a Toledo, Ohio, obstetrician, and Lore Maier, a refugee from Nazi Germany, formed Alternatives to Abortion to network emerging hotlines and pregnancy help services. Knowing that legalized abortion would spread rapidly around the world, they soon became Alternatives to Abortion International (AAI).
On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, reshaping the national landscape by legalizing abortion. This pivotal ruling not only nullified existing state abortion restrictions but also established a federally protected right to abortion, removing state-level regulatory power. This decision catalyzed an expansion of abortion access across the country, underscoring the urgent need for pregnancy help services to support women facing unplanned pregnancies.
By 1993, about 75 original contacts had grown to about 200 affiliates and AAI changed its name to Heartbeat International. More and more Catholic and Evangelical Christians felt called to help and start calling for help. We became the “go-to” place for start-up manuals, model programs, leadership training conferences, and a place to go for advice and prayer.
Through a joint venture with CareNet, Option Line took it's first call in 2003. While it's no longer a joint venture, Option Line continues to serve as a 24/7 pregnancy help contact center open any time, to anyone reaching out for help, answering more than 1,100 connections each day via phone call, live chat, texting, and email.
Dr. George Delgado, founder of the Abortion Pill Rescue Network, was looking for a partner to enhance and expand abortion pill reversal. A year later, Heartbeat International officially took over the management of the APRN. Since then, we have had the opportunity to share these miraculous stories with legislators, reporters, and other pregnancy help organizations!
On June 24, 2022, Roe v. Wade, in its fiftieth year, was finally overturned. The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, written by Justice Samuel Alito, masterfully disassembled Roe’s deeply flawed legal footing, releasing each state to protect the lives of women and their babies from the predatory practices of abortion providers. Unfortunately, the ruling also allowed states to reaffirm or advance abortion practices and provisions.
Over 50 years later, Heartbeat International's story continues to take exciting and challenging turns as we develop leaders to supply a growing pregnancy help movement. From the underserved urban neighborhoods—so often targeted by Big Abortion—to the rural reaches, the mission field created by abortion calls us to impact more lives.
The best alternative to abortion is another person.
Today, Heartbeat International serves over 3,800 affiliated pregnancy help locations, maternity homes, and non-profit adoption agencies on every continent.
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Our story continues as simply one of helping God’s people discover the life-saving, death-defying, soul-satisfying, and God-glorifying power of neighborly love.
Read more about our story in "The Power of Pregnancy Help," a history of the pregnancy help community by Heartbeat International Board Chairwoman, Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., and President Jor-El Godsey.
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 Heartbeat International proudly serves over 3,800 pregnancy help organizations. All of Heartbeat International’s affiliated pregnancy help providers, whether they are pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, or adoption services, make a commitment to serve their community with:    |
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Affiliates adopt “Our Commitment of Care and Competence.”
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Not all pregnancy centers offer medical services. If you have questions about the services offered at this pregnancy center, please ask to speak to a center representative.
