by Amy Ford, Co-Founder and President of Embrace Grace

“Most of my clients would never walk into a church.” 

I’ve heard this phrase at times from staff at pregnancy help organizations (PHOs), and for some of their clients, it's true.

Unfortunately, the church has been a place that many unmarried, pregnant moms want to run away from instead of run towards. Whether it’s because of their own church hurt or because of the reputation of the church at large, they have formulated the opinion that the church isn’t a safe place for someone unexpectedly expecting.

The perspective of many of our moms is that the church is known to be a place focused on behavior modification instead of what many are actually focused on which is heart transformation. 

Yet, if we can find creative ways to help pregnant moms be brave and overcome their fear of walking into the doors of the church, the outcome could have a generational impact, lives changed because of Jesus, and them finding a place of belonging.

When Our Clients Visit Church

It’s amazing to see the heart change regarding their perspective of the church when moms find the courage to actually show up. When they are met with authentic and real church leaders who bravely share their own stories of how God met them where they were and turned their messes into miracles, their walls start coming down and they feel safe sharing their own stories. They realize that the church isn’t a place full of perfect people but a place where imperfect people come together to encourage and support one another while pursuing the heart of God.

I tell so many moms that I invite, “Just try it one time. What do you have to lose? If you don’t like it, there is an open door available to you to leave at any time.” And I love hearing the creative ways in which centers are inspiring new moms to show up to church.

Invitation Ideas to Help Her Feel More Comfortable

I spoke to a PHO director recently who is closely partnered with a large church a few miles from their center. She tried referring their clients to the church for the Embrace Grace group but the moms were not showing up. She looked into it, asking them why they didn’t attend, and many said, “It’s such a big building. I don’t know where to go.” Even though they had signage out with clear directions, the size of the building kept them away. The PHO director came up with the solution to have the first four group sessions at their center. The church leader was still the leader of the group but began their semester at the center, instead of a big, church building. Then, once trust was built, they moved it to the church. During one of their group sessions, they took a field trip together to the church where they could walk in the doors together and show them where the classroom would be; and the moms kept showing up each week and started going to weekend services!

I’ve heard another center director say that she personally invites them to the local Embrace Grace group at their church and tells them she will meet them there. She attends the first 1 or 2 sessions to help the moms feel more brave in coming. Because of the trust that has been built and developed at the center with their clients, they are more comfortable going to Embrace Grace because they love the center worker! 

Some directors even invite the Embrace Grace leaders or pastors to swing by one of their parenting classes to personally invite the moms to their church. Sometimes seeing a face makes a big difference in helping a mom feel more confident in showing up. 

Don’t give up on inviting moms to become a part of a church family! We were never created to live life alone. Getting young moms plugged into spiritual families will help them find new friends and fellowship. We need each other! Get creative in the ask and watch what God does!

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NEW! Join us on June 12th for our first quarterly webinar to hear new ideas and receive ongoing support to partner with the churches in your community! For those just getting started or those looking to bolster their existing groups, this is for you. Join the Embrace Grace and Heartbeat teams, along with experts from the field to be inspired and equipped. Click here to register for FREE.

Heartbeat International, in conjunction with a collective of pregnancy help organizations, has taken legal action against the Office of New York Attorney General Letitia James for egregious violations of fundamental rights, including freedom of speech, free exercise of religion, equal protection under the law, and civil rights violations. The lawsuit, with legal representation provided by the Thomas More Society, comes in response to the unjust targeting of not-for-profit life-affirming pregnancy help organizations by the Attorney General's office, which has sought to silence their life-saving message and deny women access to crucial information and support during unplanned pregnancies.

The lawsuit challenges the discriminatory practices of the Attorney General's office, which have unfairly singled out pregnancy help organizations solely because they offer alternatives to abortion. These organizations, represented pro bono by the Thomas More Society, play a vital role in providing support and information to women facing unplanned pregnancies, ensuring they have access to all available options and empowering them to make informed choices about their futures. Our lawsuit challenges the Attorney General's office's pattern of discrimination against pregnancy help organizations and seeks to uphold the rights of women to receive comprehensive information and support during unplanned pregnancies. We stand firm in our commitment to providing compassionate care and empowering women to make choices that align with their values and beliefs.

Even in the midst of the attack, our focus remains: women, like Cassidy, deserve the right to try to save their pregnancies. No woman should ever be forced to complete an abortion she no longer wants. APR remains a safe and effective option, supported by scientific evidence and the lived experiences of women who, after initiating a chemical abortion, successfully reversed it and now cradle their babies in their arms.

To put it plainly: It is time to stop politicizing a woman’s right to continue her pregnancy. 

Timeline

• April 22, 2024: New York Attorney General Letitia James sends Notice of Intent to sue to at least 12 pregnancy help organizations and Heartbeat International in regard to providing information about Abortion Pill Reversal
• April 30, 2024: Thomas More Society filed a complaint on behalf of Heartbeat International and the Pregnancy Help collective
• May 1, 2024: Emergency Injunction Filed Against NY Attorney General to Halt Threatened Prosecution of Pregnancy Help Organizations
• May 6, 2024: Attorney General James Sues Heartbeat International and 11 New York Pregnancy Centers for Promoting Abortion Pill Reversal Treatment

Resources

• Thomas More Society Case Details & Documents
• Verified Complaint of Heartbeat Int'l, CompassCare, and 10 other pregnancy ministries, against NY AG Letitia James.
• Memorandum of Law in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction in Heartbeat International, et al. v. Letitia James
• Copy of Notice of Proposed Litigation by the Attorney General's Office
• Abortion Pill 101 

Press Releases

• April 30, 2024 - Heartbeat International & Pregnancy Ministry Collective Sue New York Attorney General to Block Threatened Prosecution

Latest News regarding the lawsuit

• Pro-life centers accuse New York attorney general of threatening illegal prosecution
• N.Y. AG Letitia James Sued by Anti-Abortion Groups
• Pro-Life Groups Sue New YorkAttorney General James OverAlleged Targeting
• Letitia James Stung by New Lawsuit
• Heartbeat, pregnancy help orgs sue New York AG over targeting them for life-affirming ministry
• New York AG Letitia James Challenged Over Her ‘Political Witch-Hunt’ Against Pro-Life Groups
• Letitia James sued over ‘witch hunt’ against New York anti-abortion groups
• NY crisis pregnancy centers announce joint suit against state attorney general
• Anti-Trump Attorney General Sues Pro-Life Center for Abortion Pill Reversal
• Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers Sue New York Attorney General Letitia James for Trying to Stop Their Work

If you feel so called, you can stand with us as we continue to push back against pro-abortion lies against the good work of pregnancy help. We know this will be a long battle, and we also have faith in the victory!

While we wish every affiliated individual could join us at the Conference, some of our friends and affiliates from outside the United States are not able to join us this year. Still, we want to celebrate those who are doing the great work of pregnancy help around the world. As is our tradition, we celebrate with a Parade of Nations at the Heartbeat International Annual Conference. Every country with a Heartbeat affiliate will be represented at this parade, and we need your help to carry a flag and represent a country.

On September 21, 2023, Heartbeat International learned through interview requests that the California Attorney General is suing to block us from “advertising Abortion Pill Reversal as safe and effective.” Through our Abortion Pill Rescue Network hotline, we know that some women almost immediately regret their chemical abortion choice. These women deserve the right to try and save their pregnancies. No woman should ever be forced to complete an abortion she no longer wants.

Attorney General Bonta’s lawsuit against Heartbeat International aims to conceal life-saving information from women regarding Abortion Pill Reversal, despite overwhelming evidence of its safety and effectiveness. 

Even in the midst of the attack, our focus remains: women, like Cassidy, deserve the right to try to save their pregnancies. No woman should ever be forced to complete an abortion she no longer wants. APR remains a safe and effective option, supported by scientific evidence and the lived experiences of women who, after initiating a chemical abortion, successfully reversed it and now cradle their babies in their arms.

To put it plainly: The lawsuit’s claims are flawed. We look forward to correcting the record and continuing to help women desperately seeking a last chance to choose life.

Expected Case Timeline

• September 2023: California Attorney General Rob Bonta files a complaint in the California Superior Court against Heartbeat International and RealOptions Obria to censor life-saving information from women regarding Abortion Pill Reversal, despite compelling evidence of the safety of progesterone and its effectiveness in countering the abortion drug, mifepristone.  
• October 2023: Heartbeat International and RealOptions team up with Thomas More Society to defend Abortion Pill Reversal.
• February 2024: Thomas More Society filed a response on behalf of Heartbeat International and RealOptions Obria asking the California Superior Court to throw out the lawsuit.
• June 2024: Court denies Heartbeat's challenges to jurisdiction and to the complaint after initial hearing.
• Litigation on the merits of the case proceeding.

Resources

• Thomas More Society Case Details & Documents
• State of California's Complaint against Heartbeat International & RealOptions
• Abortion Pill 101
• Washington Examiner: California wants to deter women from seeking to save the lives of their babies

Press Releases

• Feb. 6 Press Release: Heartbeat's Response to the lawsuit
  
• Sept. 21 Press Release: Heartbeat's Initial Response

Latest News regarding the lawsuit

If you feel so called, you can stand with us as we continue to push back against pro-abortion lies against the good work of pregnancy help. We know this will be a long battle, and we also have faith in the victory!

February 6, 2024
Heartbeat International
Heartbeat inquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Thomas More Society inquiries: Tom Ciesielka, 312.422.1333, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thomas More Society Attorneys Ask Court to Throw Out AG Rob Bonta’s Lawsuit

(February 6, 2024 – Oakland, California) Today, Thomas More Society attorneys asked a California Superior Court to throw out the lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta against Heartbeat International and RealOptions Obria Medical Clinics, over their advocacy for “Abortion Pill Reversal,” the medical intervention provided to women who decide to reverse their in-progress chemical abortions. The hundreds of pages of argument and evidence represent the most comprehensive legal counterattack by the pro-life movement against recent legal maneuvers by state government officials like Bonta who are trying to interfere with and stop the efforts of pregnancy centers to help women who regret and want to reverse their chemical abortions.

Heartbeat International, an international network of thousands of pregnancy centers, provides referrals to medical providers for women who are seeking to reverse their chemical abortions through its Abortion Pill Rescue® Network, which is the target of Bonta’s lawsuit, along with the RealOptions pregnancy centers in California, which provide Abortion Pill Reversal services. Abortion Pill Reversal is the process of providing supplemental progesterone to counteract the anti-progesterone effects of the first pill (mifepristone) of the two-pill chemical abortion regimen.

“Women undergoing chemical abortions deserve the truth: even after starting a chemical abortion, they may still be able to save their babies,” remarked attorney Peter Breen, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President & Head of Litigation. “California and its Attorney General Rob Bonta are illegally and unconstitutionally seeking to rip away ‘choice’ from women in dire need by attacking pregnancy help ministries like Heartbeat and RealOptions, to shut down their promotion of Abortion Pill Reversal. Abortion Pill Reversal provides real hope for women who want to stop their abortions and continue their pregnancies. Today’s massive legal filings mark the most ambitious and broad-based counterattack by the pro-life movement against the efforts of state officials, like Rob Bonta, who intend to prevent women from accessing this potentially life-saving treatment option.”

Heartbeat International President Jor-El Godsey agrees:

“California should be more concerned with helping women who desperately want to continue their pregnancy,” stated Godsey. “Targeting women’s opportunity to reverse their abortion is an obvious act of misusing the goodwill of taxpayer funding to shill for Big Abortion.”

Bonta’s aggressive campaign to dismantle Heartbeat International’s Abortion Pill Rescue Network and shut down RealOptions’ Abortion Pill Reversal services went public when he filed a Complaint for Permanent Injunction against both, along with 100 unnamed “Does,” on September 21, 2023, in the Alameda County Superior Court of California.

“Despite overwhelming evidence of Abortion Pill Reversal services’ safety and effectiveness, this lawsuit makes outrageously false claims against Heartbeat International and RealOptions,” explained Paul Jonna, Thomas More Society Special Counsel and Partner, LiMandri and Jonna LLP. “Attorney General Bonta’s lawsuit aims to hide life-saving information from women regarding Abortion Pill Reversal. This is a desperate attempt by Bonta to eliminate any competition to the well-funded abortion lobby with which he has proudly partnered throughout his political career.”

In their February 6, 2024, filings, Thomas More Society attorneys advance three main arguments:

(1) The First Amendment protects the advocacy efforts and information provided by Heartbeat and RealOptions to women about Abortion Pill Reversal.

(2) On Bonta’s claims, the Superior Court cannot decide a “battle of scientific experts” between Heartbeat’s scientific studies and Bonta’s competing studies on Abortion Pill Reversal.

(3) California’s Reproductive Privacy Act and its Constitution totally immunize Heartbeat and RealOptions, prohibiting Bonta from interfering with their aid and assistance to pregnant women who want to stop and reverse their chemical abortions.

Among the information provided to the Superior Court, Thomas More Society provided compelling evidence of the safety of supplemental progesterone for pregnant women and its effectiveness in countering the effects of mifepristone, the first pill of the two-pill chemical abortion regimen. In particular, progesterone has been safely used by obstetrician-gynecologists for decades to thwart potential miscarriage in pregnant women.

Read the Memoranda in support of Demurrers, on behalf of Heartbeat International and RealOptions, and of Motion to Quash Service, on behalf of Heartbeat International, filed February 6, 2024, by Thomas More Society attorneys in the Superior Court of the State of California – County of Alameda, in The People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions, here.

The complete collection of court documents filed February 6 is available here.
 

About Heartbeat International

Heartbeat International has been providing pro-life pregnancy resources since its inception in 1971. Today, it is the largest and most expansive network in the world with nearly 3,500 affiliated pregnancy help locations providing life-affirming alternatives to abortion. For more information, please visit heartbeatinternational.org.

About RealOptions

RealOptions Obria Medical Clinics is a non-profit 501(c)3 recognized for its quality of care since 1981. Providing caring, compassionate, high quality holistic healthcare with or without insurance, support services, optimal health education, and pregnancy loss healing to women, men, students, and families, RealOptions has five licensed medical clinic locations serving Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties devoted to caring for patients physically, emotionally, and spiritually. RealOptions offer a broad spectrum of prevention, intervention, and restorative services to the community positively impacting thousands of students and families in the Bay Area each year. For more information, please visit realoptions.net.     

About Thomas More Society

Thomas More Society is a national not-for-profit law firm dedicated to restoring respect in law for life, family, and freedom. Headquartered in Chicago and with offices across the country, Thomas More Society fosters support for these causes by providing high quality pro bono legal services from local trial courts all the way up to the United States Supreme Court. For more information, please visit thomasmoresociety.org.