Center for Life LIGHTHOUSE (Centar za Život SVJETIONIK) – Bosnia and Hercegovina
WHO ARE WE?
The LIGHTHOUSE Center for Life, the first pro-life registered center in the nation of Bosnia and Hercegovina since 2001, is managed by Robert and Sara (Sandrina) Jurjevich. The LIGHTHOUSE offers information and education for women about pregnancy, regardless of whether it is planned or unplanned. Through our educational activities and workshops, we aim to answer the questions that pregnant moms have concerning their pregnancy and how to prepare for the most precious gift in life – parenthood.
The highest priority of the LIGHTHOUSE ministry is to offer hope to women facing a crisis pregnancy and to offer alternatives to abortion, which is considered the main birth-control remedy in Bosnian society.
Testimony: “I was in a situation where I already had one baby of 14 months and found myself quickly with an unplanned pregnancy with a second baby. I was hit with fear and worry. What now? It was too soon…would I be able to handle it or not, because there was little difference … I have no help … I have no one … I will go crazy … I will fall into a depression. I cried and said to myself I did not wish for or want an abortion. By chance, I then came across the website of the LIGHTHOUSE! While seeking advice I wondered why this website? How could they help me? I received support through counseling and understanding. The pregnancy calendar I received prevailed, and I did not decide on an abortion. Through it, I learned so much that I didn’t know about. I highly recommend the LIGHTHOUSE! To everyone who finds themselves in similar circumstances and does not know what decision to make, contact the LIGHTHOUSE!” – I.G., Sarajevo
‘PREPARE FOR YOUR BABY’ PREGNANCY WORKSHOPS. Throughout the year the LIGHTHOUSE team offers a course of 6 consecutive weekly workshops for pregnant moms where we discuss the development of their baby in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy; the importance of a healthy diet and exercise; preparation for the birth of the child; and, what to expect in the first weeks after birth.
In the workshops, we provide pregnant moms with a nine-month pregnancy calendar called ‘The Miracle of Life’ which walks them through the details of their pregnancy month by month. Additionally, at the end of the workshop, the attendees receive a gift bag filled with items they will need for the baby.
Testimony: “All the information, examples, exercises were useful in preparation for giving birth, staying calm, understanding my body through each stage of development. The breathing exercises were most important for me during my own experience in giving birth because I was able to control the pain and helped myself and the baby.” – Samka M. H., Sarajevo
We stay in touch with the moms up to the first birthday of their child.
OTHER SERVICES OF THE LIGHTHOUSE
- Counseling after a stillbirth or crib death
- Post-abortion healing classes
- Humanitarian aid for single moms and families in need of food, clothing, firewood, etc.
- Online counseling
- Publishing books and literature focused on pregnancy issues
All financial gifts received designated for our approved “alliance” affiliates will be forwarded to them in a reasonable timeframe (usually upon exceeding $250US). Heartbeat International deducts $30 plus 3% from the transfer, to help defray internal costs for money transfers, currency conversion, clerical costs, bank fees, and any processing fees that might be charged. Should any funds be unable to be forwarded – primarily related to the recipient - they may be reallocated for similar international work.
Connecting & Celebrating the
Pan Asian Pregnancy Help Movement
Register to join us in Singapore!
When: October 15-18, 2025
Where: Katong-Joo Chiat District,
Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy, Singapore
Heartbeat International invites you to join our first-ever Pan Asian Pregnancy Help Leaders Summit in Singapore! Join us for in-person networking, training, learning, and encouragement with like-minded leaders from the pregnancy help movement across Asia.
Details
Cost
- Affiliates: Registration, meals, and double occupancy accommodations* are provided at Heartbeat's expense, up to 2 people per organization.
- Non-affiliates, Option 1: USD 350.00. Includes meals, but not accommodations.
- Non-affiliates, Option 2: USD 575.00. Includes meals and double occupancy accommodations.*
*No matter your affiliation, Heartbeat will only secure double occupancy accommodations.
To become a Heartbeat International affiliate, click here!
Registration Details
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Space is limited so please do not wait to register when it opens!
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Please register by August 1, 2025. Register below!
Workshops
Workshops will include client care, reaching your client, fundraising essentials, and more.
Questions? Please email Ellen Foell at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Watch the video below for a special thank you for helping to make our 2024 Pregnancy Help Leaders European Summit possible!
Advancing the Pregnancy Help Movement Around the World!
Today, thousands of workers across the globe work tirelessly to save abortion-vulnerable lives in their communities. These frontline lifesavers operate Heartbeat's thousands of pregnancy help locations reaching and rescuing women and their precious babies from abortion.
When you support Heartbeat International you are providing valuable tools, training, and support to these lifesavers all around the world. In turn, YOU—yes, YOU—can save a life today.
The reality is that while the U.S. is responsible for nearly 1M abortions each year, we still account for just 2% of all abortions worldwide. That is why Heartbeat is the most expansive network of pregnancy help organizations in the world - to provide pregnancy help in all areas of great need!
We are now present on all six inhabited continents, including in cultures that do not readily welcome new life based on gender, class, race, or government-mandated laws. We value our international affiliates and partners and realize they face some of the most daunting challenges in the war against abortion today.
With your help, we will reach even more nations with the gospel of life. We will save innocent lives in places where children are not valued and life is not respected. Thank you for doing all you can to make this possible today!
International News
Word of Life
Have you ever wondered how to talk to your pastor or church about the "why" and "how" of engaging in pregnancy help outreach? Have you ever felt stuck on how to make a case for your church to be more involved? Here is a Biblically-based apologetic on why and how we should hold out the Word of Life, recorded at our 2024 Pregnancy Help Conference by Ellen Foell, our International Program Specialist:
This video was recorded at Heartbeat International's 2024 Pregnancy Help Conference. Click here to view more Conference recordings.
Heartbeat Goes to Italy
by Andrea Trudden, Vice President of Communications & Marketing
1. Have you been to Italy before?
I had never been to Italy before this opportunity, but have had the pleasure of meeting our Italian friends here in the States several times at our training conferences. I also have had the privilege of participating in Movimento per la Vita's (MPV) training events virtually in the past.
2. How did this trip begin? 
It just so happened that the MPV Symposium occurred at the time of my anniversary, so my husband was able to join me and we got to familiarize ourselves with the beautiful countryside. Venice is everything you imagine it to be. There is beauty all around. From here, we joined new friends from other areas of the country to drive up into the mountains where the training would be held. Thankfully, one of our fellow travelers happened to be my translator for the week! Camilla was a God-send and has an incredible zest for pro-life work and reaching the youth with a message of hope and love.
3. How long were you in Italy?
With travel and training, we were in Italy for a week.
4. What PHOs did you visit during your time in Italy?
The MPV Symposium brought in pregnancy center leaders from all over the country, which is quite vast. Ultimately, there were about 65 people present, representing dozens of pregnancy centers and maternity homes.
5. What did your visit cover (curriculum, training, visits/meetings, etc.)?
The symposium was such a powerful event. Italians have a love for education, so this was a true example of that in-depth teaching. We covered three primary topics, with various subtopics within.
First, we discussed cultural changes in the world from both a physical standpoint as well as a psychological standpoint. The abortion pill use is expanding all over the world, and it is important to understand the impact it has on women, both physically and emotionally.
Second, there was a clear generational gap that needed to be addressed. Many at the training have worked in the field for decades and have an amazing heart for the work. On the first night, however, we were asked how many in the room were under the age of 35. Four hands raised. (Mine was NOT included.) To come back to a culture that embraces life, we must reach the youth with a positive message about family and hope. For effective succession planning and true impact, we must have more involvement from the youth. MPV has a good youth program that sadly lessened with COVID-19. They are rebuilding and have grand plans for future expansion.
Sticking to culture, we unpacked the role of media today and how we can use it to positively share stories from pregnancy help. We must recognize that journalism has shifted over the last decade and has activated an aggressive media attack on the abortion issue. I had the opportunity to provide media training there alongside two professional reporters. There are ways to counter the narrative, but we must be intentional about putting stories out into the world. There was a theme of becoming good storytellers throughout the Symposium.
Finally, I was able to provide an overview of the global landscape of pregnancy help. This brought us back to talking about the abortion pill and abortion pill reversal. We must be fully aware of the implications easy access to abortion has on society and adapt to this new landscape.
6. What was the biggest thing you learned from or about the organization(s) you visited?
I was very impressed with the depth of MPV's work. They encompass all life issues. In fact, while we were on-site, a couple of the presenters went down the road to present at another conference that had a focus on combatting euthanasia. MPV is working to mobilize the youth, serve through pregnancy help, encourage pro-life laws, and create a culture that embraces life from natural life to natural death.
7. What was the biggest takeaway from your visit to Italy?
Italy truly has the best pizza! Plus, there is a desperate desire to change the culture to embrace life before it is too late. MPV is watching the world and doing everything it can to protect the country from falling into cultural darkness.
8. Why is it important for us to connect internationally and between organizations?
This opportunity was a great example of how we are truly better together. MPV is doing amazing things in Italy! As one of our joint affiliate networks, they tap into Heartbeat trainings often and have great influence in their network. Staying connected and sharing the current challenges and triumphs helps us strategize for tomorrow while bringing key concepts to others around the globe. This is such a mighty mission that we are all working toward, so the more we can work together, the better.
9. Is there anything else that stood out to you or affected you during your time there?
Was there anything that surprised you?
My translator, Camilla, introduced me to a six-year-old girl who was saved at her pregnancy center outside of Rome. The girl's parents are still together and they are actively involved in the work of MPV. Her mother is studying to become a magistrate and her father is a lawyer. Seeing how engaged he was at the Symposium and how she was cared for by all around, as though she was a niece to each person, showed love in action. While a completely different language and nation, the work is exactly the same. We are each called into this movement to share our skills to work toward a common mission of life. It was a great affirmation.
Heartbeat Goes to India in 2024 - Again!
by Ellen Foell, International Program Specialist
I never dreamed I would be able to travel to India, let alone twice in one year. In Part 1 of this series, I shared about my first trip to (north) India. And last October I had the privilege to visit two of our Indian affiliates and participate in the India Pro-Life Summit, held in Mumbai.
I met Brother Godfrey Rajkumar and his wife Beatrice, directing Jeevan (Hindi for “Life”), in Bangalore. We had a lovely time together and I was given the opportunity to talk to around 14 university students who meet in their homes to share about the sanctity of life. In their apartment, they also host a few of the women in unplanned pregnancies, as well as have sewing and computer classes. Talk about a multi-purpose room! Brother Godfrey and Beatrice run the only pregnancy help center in Bangalore (that we know of). Bangalore is a city of about 14 million people.
From there I went to Coimbatore to meet with Simon and Johanna Durairaj who run Life for All. Coimbatore is in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Life for All recently opened a birthing center, and they run a home for the elderly as well as a daycare. The pro-life movement in India really has to minister seamlessly for the weakest in the population who are easy prey.
Finally, I traveled with Simon, Johanna, and their family back to Mumbai for the 10th Pro-Life Summit. The Pro-Life Summit started nine years ago with about 15 people. Praise God for the growth of the movement which saw about 70 people attend! The Summit was well planned with talks to encourage, equip, and train. A huge shoutout to all the wonderful people I met there who embraced me so warmly with true Indian hospitality. There is nothing like a proper cup of Indian chai.
The India Pro-Life Summit continues to grow from the 15 or so who attended 9 years ago to the nearly 75 that attended this year. Like many of our international affiliates, the Indian pregnancy help movement is actually the pro-life movement. The people who attended the Summit are the same people who plan the marches, attend prayer walks and 40 Days for Life, plan client services, promote APR, raise funds, do research that hopefully influences legislation, and mobilize the culture toward life through social media—and they are pastors. They do everything—if not them, who else?
The pro-life movement in India is growing, but slowly. It is hard to keep up with the ever-increasing number of abortions in India; currently, approximately 42,000 abortions are performed per day with a total of about 15.6 million per year. Would you pray for the pregnancy help movement in India? Your Indian co-laborers are under-resourced, understaffed, and face tremendous opposition, governmentally and culturally. Like you, they are fueled by their love for life and love for the Giver of Life.
Political Map of India
Highlighted in yellow are the territories I visited:
My Option Line Roots: One Journey to Help Thousands
by Nafisa Kennedy, Director of Option Line
On the evening of February 16th, 2006, I arrived at a quiet brick building in Columbus, OH. A few cars were in the parking lot as I walked toward the door. I took a nervous deep breath, carefully entered my entry code on a keypad, and wondered what my first shift on the Option Line hotline would be like. My colleagues, some of whom I met for the first time that day, welcomed me as if I were family (between calls, of course). I observed that same warmth and kindness as I heard them connecting with our callers that night.
My first hotline shift was 6 hours long, and I still remember that I spoke with twenty-six people. My colleagues told me it was a quiet shift, but as a young professional with a heart for missions, I left with a heart bursting with gratitude for the opportunity to serve twenty-six souls in as many different cities! Not only was it incredible to speak life to them, but I knew that their next step would be a visit to a local pregnancy help center. What an honor to be part of a vast network of support which always leads back to the Lord our God! At the time, I was unaware of just how much God was already at work at Option Line, and I couldn’t have imagined all that He would do.
Later that year, we received an email from a mom who said she had called and spoken to someone by my name. When Sarah initially called she was considering abortion, but because of the support she found through Option Line and her local pregnancy help center, her email contained a photo of her (the mother) and her newborn child, absolutely beaming. She had not forgotten our late-night conversation, and she wanted to say thank you.
Up until 2012, all Option Line staff lived in the Columbus area and reported to the office for every shift. As a 24/7/365 operation, Option Line consultants would arrive and depart from our building at all hours of the day and night, in every season, too. In 2012, we began testing remote work with our Columbus area team during the overnight and weekend hours. Thanks to innovative technology, and God’s leading, we hired our first fully remote team member in 2014, and this year more than 60% of our team is remote. We’ve even had our consultants answer calls while in Guatemala, London, and Mexico; advancement in technology can bring many unexpected blessings!
Some things never change though. We still have an incredibly dedicated team of people-loving servants. Just recently, one of our consultants went into labor during her hotline shift; she chose to serve other moms until the time was near and was holding her own baby within two hours of her last hotline call.
Another aspect of our service that has not changed is our approach to people: respect and empathy are integral to Option Line culture.
“My caller says she reached out a year ago and spoke to me. She remembers my voice. She was raped a year ago and reached out to our helpline. She reminded me how she felt alone and that she decided to tell her husband…they kept the baby! She said that God heard her cries and they got help at their local center. Her baby is now 10 months old!”
- Sylvia, Option Line consultant
Option Line was developed on a solid foundation by its early leaders within Heartbeat International. God has ordained every step forward, and we have seen His blessings through those serving, as well as the people we serve. While my first shift on the hotline resulted in twenty-six calls, it is not uncommon for a hotline consultant today to speak with over 100 people per shift. During that first year, we celebrated reaching a quarter million contacts; as of our 22nd birthday, we have reached 7 million. To God be the glory, forever!
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Click here to learn about Option Line's impact today and how we've expanded our modes (digital, emails, texts, chats, and calls) of making over 370,000 connections per year.
APR Around the World
Recently, a pregnancy help organization in India shared it's first Abortion Pill Reversal story! Watch the video to celebrate with us all that the Lord is doing in India:
Pictured and used with permission, Mom and her baby girl*
*For security purposes, do not post, forward, or share this information, or video, with others without specific permission.
Two Hotlines, A 'World' of Help
by Ellen Foell, International Program Specialist
We all know that the demographic of childbearing-aged women are on their smartphones. In America, 90% of women own smartphones. In India, the number of women owning smartphones is lower than in the USA, at 64%. But even 64% is high. "Mobile technology in the form of the smartphone is widely used, particularly in pregnancy and they are an increasing and influential source of information."1 That means we can reach these women and they can find us, find you and your hotline. Help, and a possible rescue from abortion, can reach a woman in the time it takes to find and dial a phone number. It takes less than a second, compared to typing in a search engine and reviewing results. That is the power of technology. That is the potential power of a helpline.
We are focusing this issue of Heartbeat Around the World on helplines, hotlines, and crisis lines around the world.
A hotline is usually a toll-free telephone service available to the public or to a group of people for some specific purpose. For us who serve in the pregnancy help movement, our "group of people" are moms in unplanned pregnancies and those who love them and our specific purpose is to reach them in their hour of crisis to connect them to people close by who can compassionately provide alternatives to abortion. Such a hotline was a "someday dream" for the founders of Heartbeat International. Today, you can read the story of how Option Line (powered by Heartbeat) connects with hundreds of thousands of women in crisis every year. Or, enjoy the photo and video of an Indian woman who reached out to Option Line and was connected back to the helpline in India. There is such power in connectivity.
Around the world, there are hotlines in places as far apart as Romania, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, India, Canada, and countless other countries. Does your country have one? If so, we would love to know the number so we can add it to our Worldwide Directory. We want women to find you, reach you, and connect with help...faster than it takes to search and review results.
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Source Cited
1. https://www.
More...
Thriving in Babylon: Lessons from Daniel
by Dr. Laura Lewis, Executive Director of Pregnancy Care Canada
We are in a Daniel time, not an Esther moment, and there are many lessons we can learn from Daniel's story.
When King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, besieged Jerusalem, Daniel and other young men were captured and thrown into the culture of Babylon, a culture that opposed their faith. Yet, God elevated Daniel to influence four different government administrations over nearly 70 years. He went from being a prisoner of war to an influential leader.
Daniel gained favor and influence even while living as a stranger in a hostile land, not only because of his gifts but also because of his character and integrity. His life serves as a powerful example for us as we strive to engage with integrity and compassion to influence our communities and nation, allowing us to lead a broken culture rather than be led by it.
Daniel’s heart remained devoted to God, even under pressure. His highest priority was not to gain influence with people, but to stay faithful to God, seeking the Lord before he spoke and exalting and glorifying Him. His example teaches us that when we do what is right, we can trust God to handle the outcome.
Daniel served with integrity. He was not for sale.
We may be tempted to waver for cultural acceptance or financial gain. However, there is a major difference between wisely discerning how to engage with a broken and unbelieving community and compromising for the applause or finances of man. Before doing anything, let us respond as Daniel did—in prayer.
We are to lead culture, not be led by it. To influence, not conform.
Daniel understood how to build bridges. He led with wisdom and humility, which resulted in people trusting him. When people trust you, your influence grows—even in a corrupt and broken society.
At Pregnancy Care Canada, we also aim to be bridge builders by:
- Bridging the digital reach through social media: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok. We want to meet this generation where they hang out and provide trustworthy information and help.
- Bridging the gaps geographically with understanding by equipping churches and strengthening connections with local centers.
- Bridging services. We appreciate the expertise of many others working in the pregnancy help space and are thankful to collaborate with them.
Our actions don’t need to be grand or heroic, but they must be grounded in love. If we fail to understand love, nothing else truly matters. Our culture, our Babylon, is desperate for a manifestation of God's goodness.
One woman recently told me that the work done each day in local pregnancy care centers is one of the purest expressions of the gospel she has seen. Let us protect this space.
If we are willing to turn away from compromise, serve with integrity, build bridges, and choose to love as Jesus did, we will position ourselves for the long arc of influence and favour that will impact a broken world.
Conference, Conference, Conference
by Ellen Foell, International Program Specialist
In the western hemisphere, we have definitely entered conference time. In March, Board Chair Peggy Hartshorn was with our collaborating partner, Movimento per la Vita, celebrating MPV’s Jubilee year with a mass.
Later that month, Peggy also traveled to New Zealand to celebrate with New Life International.
In early April, I had the privilege to attend and present a couple of workshops with Pregnancy Care Canada (PCC) in beautiful Montreal. PCC, led by Dr. Laura Lewis, has been reaching and rescuing women in Canada for over 40 years. It is always interesting and helpful to see pregnancy care work differences and similarities, even when we are on the same continent. We asked Dr. Laura to share her thoughts about the continuing work in Canada in the article within this month's email of Heartbeat Around the World (May 2025). Thank you, Dr. Laura and her team, for your gracious hospitality.
In late April/early May, Heartbeat International hosted its own annual conference in Birmingham, Alabama, with over 1,600 attendees, including thirty international participants from twenty different nations, Albania to Zambia!
Simon Durairaj, from India, as well as Blandine Kemayou from Cameroon, shared on Wednesday night, highlighting what God is doing around the world in their respective countries to advance pregnancy help. Heartbeat opens its window for scholarships to this incredible opportunity in early December, so watch this space for access to the application. Click here for a peek at next year's conference location and theme, or revisit the Heartbeat Around the World email.
Finally, in late May, Heartbeat will be headed to the Balkan Network for Life Conference, whose leader, Svetlana Jovanova, was given the Servant Leader Award in Birmingham. Congratulations, Svetlana!
That conference will be in Montenegro, where the budding pregnancy help movement is hosting the conference. The Balkan Network has provided a free resource for Heartbeat affiliates, which is a webinar on Airtable, a free database management system, presented by Filip Petrovski. Thank you, Balkan Network for Life, and Filip.
Yes, lots of conferences. But ultimately, babies are not rescued, moms in crisis are not reached, hearts are not won, and lives are not changed through conferences, but through God’s people reaching out to those around us every day, in every opportunity. The vital training gained at conferences allows pregnancy help leaders to invest in their skills, their organizations, and themselves so that women can be reached and cared for most effectively. The most effective way to reach someone in crisis is another person. Thank you for what you each do every day, in as many circumstances as able, to reach and rescue the women, babies, and families in your nation.
Enjoy this issue of Heartbeat Around the World!
Thank You Debbie
For the past 21 years, Debbie Schirtzinger has served on Heartbeat International’s staff, working directly with our life-saving affiliates as our network has grown from 250 to over 2,100. This month, Debbie is stepping away from her current role with Heartbeat as she and her husband, Dave, relocate near family out of state.
We love and appreciate Debbie and are so thankful God has placed her in our lives, and we wanted to make sure to include YOU—our partners in this life-saving work—in a celebration both of how God has used Debbie and how we know He will continue to use her in her new home.
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How did you become connected with Heartbeat in the first place?
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In 1995, a good friend of mine from church, Catherine Wood, had just started working for Heartbeat. I had helped her with a couple projects by doing some data entry. I wasn’t familiar with Heartbeat but the Lord used Catherine’s passion for Heartbeat’s mission, my trust in her, my computer background, and Heartbeat’s need to nudge me. I started working for Heartbeat in January, 1996.
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What’s kept you here this long?
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I think I’ve stayed here for pretty much the same reasons that I came. First, I’ve always felt the Lord continuing to nudge me to stay, gracious enough to continue to use me here. Now I know firsthand His favor to Heartbeat’s mission. I’ve seen the amazing people He has brought in and out of Heartbeat in the last 21 years for specific times and specific purposes coming as a result of prayer and divine appointments. Relationships and Christian friendships I’ve made as a Heartbeat team member as well as the hundreds of affiliates I’ve met and served in affiliate services has been life changing. I’ve even met some remarkable people just hired in the last few weeks that I wouldn’t have known if I’d left sooner.
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What are some of the ways you’ve seen our community/movement grow and change during your time with Heartbeat?
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One year Heartbeat’s annual conference theme was Better Together. That’s been true on so many levels. At the local level, it’s seeing staff and volunteers work in harmony together in their own pregnancy center, clinic, or maternity home. It’s seeing local pregnancy help organizations working in partnership with churches and individuals in a community-wide effort. Nationally, I’ve seen groups collaborate to accomplish so much together like collectively writing the Commitment of Care and Competence standards or the pro-life legal community coming alongside national groups to defend pregnancy help organizations under attack. There is also a strong willingness and desire to share with each other things we’ve learned. Through the Heartbeat Academy, Institute, and our annual conference, the community/movement continues to grow together by sharing with each other and encouraging each other.
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What are some of the qualities of pregnancy help leaders that have stood out to you over the years?
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Leaders may appear in a variety of capacities. It may be an executive director leading a center, a board member who takes charge of an event, a volunteer who leads an abortion recovery program, a house parent at a maternity home, or someone leading a church group to open a brand new U.S. center or a center internationally. Their desire to serve the Lord wherever and however He wants to use them and to keep learning is the heart of those who love and lead this movement.
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What do most pro-lifers/Christians not know about pregnancy centers you wish they did?
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I would hope they know that there’s no agenda other than a genuine love for the clients and the desire to help them and give them hope.
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How has working at Heartbeat/in the pregnancy help movement affected the way you approach everyday life as a friend/wife/mom/grandma?
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I’ve seen over and over in a variety of experiences, whether praying for direction for Heartbeat, co-workers praying for each other, or praying daily over the many prayer requests that come in from donors and affiliates, how much the Lord loves us. He’s very personal. When we seek His will for our life, He lovingly, patiently provides all that we need. Seeing so many answers to prayer in the pregnancy help community has grown my faith and made me more courageous.
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What do you think you’ll miss most about working day-to-day for Heartbeat?
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Heartbeat and the pro-life community is such a powerful community to “live” in. I’ll miss the camaraderie with Heartbeat staff and all of the affiliates I’ve met over the years. I’ll miss keeping up with affiliate news with generous donor stories, client success stories, and seeing the impact in a community when services or locations are added. I am grateful there’s Pregnancy Help News and other outlets to continue reading these incredible stories.
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What are you looking forward to most about this next season in your life?
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I am looking forward to a slower pace. My husband and I are moving from Columbus, where we’ve both lived our entire lives, to a rural setting and I see myself on the back porch reading and easing myself into the day. I want to be part of a community of believers in a local church, and there’s also a local Heartbeat affiliate where I can become plugged right back into the pro-life community. I do have a longtime friend rooted in our new community and we’ll also be living within 15 minutes of our daughter and her family. I’m looking forward to being more involved with them and our 4 year-old granddaughter. I’m already signed up to volunteer in her preschool twice a month, so we’ll see if the wish for a slower pace really happens.
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How can Heartbeat affiliates be praying for you?
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Thank you so much! Please pray that the Lord can continue to use us wherever He leads, whether that’s in our own family or in a larger sphere of influence. I have so much more to learn and to give. Please pray not only for our daughter and family, but also our son and his family as they move to South Africa, the same week we move, for two years on the mission field. I can’t thank the Lord enough for the gift He gave me 21 years ago to be part of this incredible community of love and life.
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Two Margarets, Two Legacies: A Stark Contrast in the Battle for Life
by Andrea Trudden, Vice President of Communications and Marketing at Heartbeat International
History often gives us striking juxtapositions—stories of two individuals whose lives draw sharp lines between competing worldviews. Such is the case with Margaret Sanger and Margaret (Peggy) Hartshorn—two women who each left a profound mark on the conversation surrounding human life, but whose values and visions could not be more different.
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger (1879–1966), founder of what would eventually become Planned Parenthood, championed birth control and population control in the early 20th century. To many, she is portrayed as a pioneer of women’s “reproductive freedom.” But a closer look reveals troubling roots. Sanger’s worldview placed autonomy and self-determination above the sanctity of life itself. In her eyes, life was negotiable, especially the lives of those she deemed “unfit.”
Sanger openly promoted eugenics —the belief that the human race could be improved by discouraging the reproduction of people with what she deemed as having undesirable traits. Her writings and public statements often linked birth control with the goal of “weeding out the unfit,” and she advocated for policies that would limit births among the poor, the disabled, and minority populations. Rather than cherishing every life as sacred and worthy of dignity, Sanger viewed many lives as burdens to be eliminated or prevented.
Her movement was built on the premise that women could only be free if they were no longer bound by the possibility of motherhood. Liberation, in her mind, meant separation from the natural gift of life. The results of that philosophy are seen today in a culture where abortion is often promoted as empowerment, and where the value of life is weighed against convenience, cost, or circumstance.
Margaret (Peggy) Hartshorn
In contrast stands Margaret (Peggy) Hartshorn, a name less known in the mainstream but revered in the movement to protect life. As the longtime leader of Heartbeat International, Peggy Hartshorn has spent her life affirming the value of every human being, born and unborn, by building and strengthening a global network of pregnancy help centers that offer real choices to women in crisis.
Where Sanger championed the ideology of self over others, Peggy has quietly lived out a gospel of sacrificial love. She and her husband began by opening their own home to pregnant women in need, embodying the belief that true freedom for a woman doesn’t come from ending a pregnancy—but from being surrounded by people who will walk with her in love.
That foundational belief led Peggy to develop what is now known as the LOVE Approach, a simple yet profound model of care embraced by thousands of pregnancy help organizations around the world. The acronym LOVE stands for Listen and Learn, Open Options, Vision and Value, and Extend and Empower, a framework rooted in compassion, practical help, and unwavering respect for the woman and her child. This approach doesn’t just provide alternatives to abortion; it offers a path to hope, healing, and a future filled with possibility.
Peggy's legacy is one of hope and healing. Under her leadership, Heartbeat International has equipped pregnancy help organizations in over 100 countries to offer ultrasounds, maternity housing, post-abortion healing, and life-affirming care. Her vision values both mother and child, recognizing the inherent worth in every person regardless of age, ability, race, or circumstances.
Yet her legacy isn’t only global—it’s deeply personal. To meet Peggy in person is to experience the sanctity of life firsthand. The genuine kindness in her voice, the warmth in her eyes, and the patient attention she gives to each individual testify to the deep-rooted conviction that every life matters. There is no pretense in her advocacy—no hint of agenda or performative concern. She lives the pro-life message with every handshake, every conversation, every act of grace. Peggy’s presence alone affirms the truth that life is sacred, not in theory, but in each person we encounter.
Two Margarets. Two Movements. Two Moral Compasses.
Margaret Sanger’s legacy continues today in the abortion industry, a system built on fear, control, and the belief that some lives are disposable. In just one year, Planned Parenthood performed over 402,000 abortions across the U.S., according to its 2023–2024 Annual Report. That’s more than 1,100 unborn lives lost every single day.
In a powerful and providential contrast, Heartbeat International answers roughly 1,100 calls a day through its 24/7 Option Line—a helpline offering women compassionate, life-affirming support the moment they need it most. One movement ends life. The other answers the call to save it.
The difference in daily impact is staggering—and it’s no coincidence. The leaders behind each movement shaped these outcomes. Sanger laid the foundation for a culture of death, masked in the language of rights and autonomy. Peggy Hartshorn built a legacy of love, rooted in the unshakable belief that no one should have to face pregnancy alone, and no life is beyond value.
What Sanger’s movement ends, Peggy’s movement nurtures. Where Planned Parenthood sees a problem to solve, Peggy sees a person to love.
Even Planned Parenthood has attempted to distance itself from Sanger’s eugenic roots, removing her name from its Manhattan facility. Yet no amount of rebranding can undo the consequences of a philosophy that devalues life at its most vulnerable.
Meanwhile, Peggy Hartshorn’s legacy continues to grow, not just in buildings or programs, but in families restored, babies born, and women empowered with the truth that they are never alone.
The contrast is clear: one woman spent her life encouraging the world to live for self and to deny the value of lives deemed inconvenient. The other has spent her life defending the dignity of all life and serving those in need with courage and compassion.
In a culture still wrestling with the question of what it means to be free, the story of these two Margarets reminds us that true freedom is not found in rejecting life, but in embracing it.
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Join Andrea Trudden, Vice President of Communications and Marketing, as she interviews Margaret (Peggy) Hartshorn, former President and Chairwoman of Heartbeat International. Together, they explore Peggy’s remarkable 50-year legacy in the pregnancy help movement and reflect on the powerful contrast between two Margarets: one who promoted ending life and one who dedicated her life to protecting it.
