Heartbeat International celebrates a decisive Supreme Court victory from Heartbeat International on Vimeo.

Announced at 10:10 am EST on June 24, 2022, Roe v. Wade is officially overturned by the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Read the complete opinion here. 

Heartbeat International works hard to equip and prepare pregnancy help organizations with the tools they need for any situation. With Roe v. Wade being overturned, it is important that they are ready for whatever situation may come their way. To help, we're addressing the topic with podcasts, webinars, articles, and other resources designed for those working in pregnancy help to prepare. Please continue to pray for these organizations who may be facing challenges in the coming days.

If you would like to help support the work of pregnancy help centers as they face new attacks from NARAL, mainstream media, big tech, and malicious legislatures, you can learn more on our Representation and Defense page! There you can find information and tools to prepare you to speak up for their vital work.

Resources

• Heartbeat International's Amicus Brief - This brief provides the individual testaments of Nikki Pinkley, Brittni Curl and Michelle Bisbee, showing how they were assisted by pregnancy help organizations as example that women do not have to choose between the life of their unborn child and taking part in society.
• Talking Points - Dobbs - These talking points cover the basic facts of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health case and answer some commonly asked questions about it's impact on pregnancy help organizations.
• Interactive Map - An interactive map from Family Policy Alliance which breaks down of what will happen in each state if Roe is overturned.
• Responding to Oral Arguments - An academic paper by Charlotte Lozier Institute, which is a response to Justice Sotomayor's problematic statements on fetal pain during the Dobbs oral arguments.

Latest News

Pregnancy Help News is your source for reporting on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health. Click here to view all the latest news articles revolving around this ground-breaking case.

Podcasts

Tune in to the Pregnancy Help Podcast for information on how Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health could impact pregnancy help.Topics with pregnancy help and legal experts include:

• The SCOTUS Leak
• Dobbs 101
• Impact on States - Dobbs Part 2
• Impact on Centers - Dobbs Part 3
• Dobbs: What Happend and What's Next

For Immediate Release
May 2, 2021
Andrea Trudden, Vice President of Communications and Marketing
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(614) 885-7577

NEW REPORT: Pregnancy help organizations expand services and reach, adapting to new state laws and abortion pathways

Heartbeat releases the latest Life Trends 2022 Report

Columbus, OH: Heartbeat International released a report highlighting the findings of the services provided within their network of more than 3,000 pregnancy help locations worldwide. The Life Trends 2022 Report also underscores unique ways that the pregnancy help movement serves women through not only pregnancy centers, but also mobile medical units, maternity homes, and Abortion Pill Reversal.

“The Life Trends 2022 Report shows another phenomenal year of pregnancy help making a powerful difference through pregnancy centers and their movement partners like mobile medical units, maternity homes, not to mention critical focused outreach like Abortion Pill Reversal,” said Heartbeat International president, Jor-El Godsey. “Together pregnancy help is a broad and thriving movement making a difference for life!”

As chemical abortions now account for 54 percent of all abortions in the U.S., Heartbeat International’s Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) continues to experience growth, showing a 173 percent increase in reversal starts since 2019, highlighting the fact that as use of the abortion pill expands, so does the need for reversal.

The report looks at political trends in the U.S. as well, highlighting the impact the Texas “Heartbeat Law” which prohibits abortions after a heartbeat is detected (~8 weeks) had on pregnancy centers after being enacted in September. From the report, 49 percent of the centers indicated seeing an increase of clients after the law was enacted. Abortions in Texas fell 59% from August 2021 to September 2021.[i]

“We are witnessing history being made in real-time as states enact abortion-related laws nationwide and we’ve seen how swiftly our centers can adapt to these changes. Every woman deserves love and support during an unexpected pregnancy,” Andrea Trudden, Heartbeat’s vice president of communications and marketing said. “No matter where a woman is in her pregnancy journey, the pregnancy help network provides essential care and support – often at no cost – and will continue to do so because it is the right thing to do.”

Link to Life Trends 2022 Report: heartbeatinternational.org/lifetrends

Key findings in the report include: 

• 1,977,509 people now have access to pregnancy help through Heartbeat's Pregnancy Center Life Launch program
• 173% increase in abortion pill reversal starts since 2019
• Fewer than a dozen countries in the world besides the U.S. allow abortion without any restrictions after 15 weeks
• 49% of Texas pregnancy centers reported an increase of clients after the "Heartbeat Law" was enacted
• 3,000+ lives have been saved since 2012, according to statistics

Trend: Chemical Abortion

Chemical abortions have been increasingly preferred by abortion providers for years. 54% of all abortions are now performed through the abortion pill.[ii] 

Trend: Abortion Pill Reversal

Heartbeat's Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) connects women who regret taking the first dose of the abortion pill regimen to a network of medical professionals trained to administer the reversal protocol.

• 3,000+ lives have been saved since 2012, according to statistics
• 1,091 lives were saved in 2020 through APR
• 150 women on average start the abortion pill reversal process each month
• Women in all 50 states and 65 countries contacted APRN in 2021
• 75% of women who seek reversal do so within 24 hours of taking the abortion pill
• 173% increase in reversal starts from 2019 to 2021

Trend: Option Line

Option Line's 24/7 pregnancy helpline is a resource that proved critically important in 2021, as many pregnancy centers were able to forward all phone calls to Option Line when they were forced to temporarily close their doors due to continued waves of COVID-19. 

• 52% of contact via phone
• 30% of contact via chat
• 14% use a self-service locator
• Option Line connects someone to life-saving help every 88 seconds
• More than 5 million women and men have contacted Option Line since 2003

[i] Selected Characteristics of Induced Terminations of Pregnancy by Month, by Alison Little, Texas Health and Human Services, February 2022

[ii] guttmacher.org/article/2022/02/medication-abortion-now-accounts-more-half-all-us-abortions

The mission of Heartbeat International is to Reach and rescue as many lives as possible through an effective network of life-affirming, global pregnancy help to renew communities for LIFE. Here's how we are working toward that mission.

▶ Workshops are now available here! ◀

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Whether you will be attending the Heartbeat International Conference in person or virtually, there are plenty of learning options available to you. 

You can view the full Conference Schedule, including In-Depth Day Trainings, by simply scrolling down.

Those enjoying the In-Person Experience will have the opportunity to select from the various sessions held each day. Note, Tuesday, March 29 is our In-Depth Training Day and is available by purchasing the Conference Bundle.

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Heartbeat International celebrates decisive Supreme Court victory from Heartbeat International on Vimeo.

As of Friday, June 24, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization has been announced and overturns Roe v. Wade. Read the complete Supreme Court opinion here. 

The primary reminder for pregnancy help organizations is that our work does not change. 

Since the leak on May 2, a variety of abortion advocacy groups have reacted strongly. Some organizations have experienced an increase in threatening or harrassing phone calls, false negative online reviews, and vandalism. If you have experienced any incidents in the last month, please complete our survey here so we can pray specifically for your organization and staff, and keep a finger on the pulse of what's happening in the pregnancy help movement. (Please note, any identifying information provided will be kept confidential. Only aggregated information will be reported.) If you have security concerns of any kind, we have a resource list available here. 

Please know that as the story develops, we are continuing to update this page so you have the most recent and complete information available. The resource list below remains valuable, and will continue to grow as this news develops.

Our most recent resource for you to download, share, and advocate includes statistics, talking points, and more that is specific to your state. Get prepared to talk about Pregnancy Help in Your State.

Heartbeat International works hard to equip and prepare pregnancy help organizations with the tools they need for any situation. With the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned, it is important that they are ready for whatever situation may come their way. To help, we're addressing the topic with podcasts, webinars, articles, and other resources designed for those working in pregnancy help to prepare.

Resources

• Online Resources - Prepare your pregnancy help organization for a post-Roe world from client services to fundraising to marketing and beyond. 
• Heartbeat International's Amicus Brief - This brief provides the individual testaments of Nikki Pinkley, Brittni Curl and Michelle Bisbee, showing how they were assisted by pregnancy help organizations as example that women do not have to choose between the life of their unborn child and taking part in society.
• Talking Points - Dobbs - These talking points cover the basic facts of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health case and answer some commonly asked questions about it's impact on pregnancy help organizations.
• Pregnancy Help in Your State - Download, share, and advocate with statistics, talking points, and more specific to your state.
• Interactive Map - An interactive map from Family Policy Alliance which breaks down of what will happen in each state if Roe is overturned.
• Responding to Oral Arguments - An academic paper by Charlotte Lozier Institute, which is a response to Justice Sotomayor's problematic statements on fetal pain during the Dobbs oral arguments.
• Protect Your Pregnancy Help Organization - Two articles on practical steps to protect your organization in preparation for increased protest activities.

Latest News

Pregnancy Help News is your source for reporting on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health. Click here to view all the latest news articles revolving around this ground-breaking case.

Content for leaders who wish to prepare their pregnancy help organizations for any conclusion to Dobbs is available here.

Podcasts

Tune in to the Pregnancy Help Podcast for information on how Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health could impact pregnancy help.Topics with pregnancy help and legal experts include:

• The SCOTUS Leak
• Dobbs 101
• Impact on States - Dobbs Part 2
• Impact on Centers - Dobbs Part 3
• Dobbs: What Happend and What's Next

Affliate Webinars

• The Results of Dobbs and the Impact on Clients
• Dobbs for Donors - Advancement Perspective
• Communications Strategy: Tools & Approaches for working with Media

By Laura Berry, MBA

Sometimes, a dose of hope and medicine is enough to set a life—or two—back in motion.

When Emily S. of Huntington, California, found out she was pregnant, at first, to her, hope looked like an abortion.

Only twenty-two years old and raising a six-year-old daughter alone, Emily saw the prospect of having another child as overwhelming, especially amid a pandemic and so much uncertainty. In fact, it felt impossible.

Little did she know, she not only had the support of her family, but also a community pregnancy help organization ready to serve her and Blessings International’s commitment to provide long before the hour of need. But she just couldn’t see it.

All she could see was a quick fix.

And so, without anyone’s knowledge, she sought out a chemical abortion.

The next day, she was having lunch with her uncle when she mentioned what she had done. All her uncle could say was, “But, Emily, why?”

“I just couldn’t do it.” So much tension had been released by simply telling someone. She could now feel the tears threatening. “I couldn’t raise another kid alone. I just couldn’t…”

In the moments that followed, as her uncle put his hand on her shoulder and promised that Emily would always have his support as well as her mom’s, everything that was lined up and ready to save a life, began to fall into place.

Picking up her phone with shaking hands, Emily found the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline and was directed to a local pregnancy center that had just received their Blessings International shipment of progesterone.

Now the only question that remained was whether there was still time.

As soon as Emily arrived at the clinic, staff members performed an ultrasound. Sure enough, the baby was alive.

There were only a couple of bottles of progesterone on the pharmacy shelf, but once in Emily’s hands, it was all that was needed. The progesterone therapy came just in time, and when Emily returned within a week, the next ultrasound showed that the baby was well and growing quickly.

Whether hope looks like a promise or a bottle of progesterone, the biggest blessings often come in small doses. Thankfully for Emily and her baby, her dose of hope came at just the right time, in just the right form.

To learn more about Blessings International and how they supply pregnancy centers across the United States with progesterone, essential medicines, prenatal vitamins, and medical supplies geared toward pregnancy centers, visit https://blessing.org/prc/ and ask about the 40% discount and free shipping.

To refer someone to the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline, visit www.abortionpillreversal.com or call 1-877-558-0333. There is a hotline with nurses available 24/7 to assist women who are seeking reversal. This team refers to more than 1,000 providers in the Abortion Pill Rescue Network, including the pregnancy center that helped this young woman, that provide hope for those seeking to reverse their chemical abortion. 

This month we are highlighting Lisa Searle, one of our Healthcare Team Managers. Lisa assists our affiliates with medical questions and oversees the Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline. Before joining the Medical Impact Team almost two years ago, she served for two years as an Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline Consultant. Lisa brings to our team 19 years of nursing experience with four of those years spent serving within her local pregnancy help center. She brings so much wisdom to our team and is always willing to offer education and assistance to advance the pregnancy help community. We count ourselves blessed to have her on the team!

Where did you grow up and go to school?

I grew up in the heart of eastern North Carolina. Goldsboro is a little town known for pigs, pickles, and planes. Goldsboro is home to the Seymour Johnson Airforce Base. Mount Olive Pickle Company is not too far from town. You will find some of the best Eastern North Carolina BBQ as you drive through headed to the coast which is only two hours away. Barton College is in Wilson, North Carolina. I attended Barton College and earned my nursing degree.

Share with us about your family.

My husband and I are celebrating 17 years of marriage this month. God has blessed us with two children, Costin, 16 years old and Asher, 9 years old. We share our home with two dogs Izzy and Sarge, our crazy kitty Petunia Butterfly, two African Dwarf Frogs, Bobby and Chunky, as well as Karen, the snail.

What was your favorite part of helping clients in the pregnancy center?

Spending time with the abortion-minded client is what I love to do.

Getting to know her, building trust to form a lasting relationship. I enjoy providing abortion education, introducing the client to her baby during her first ultrasound and guiding her down a path of life-affirming choices.

Tell us about what brought you to Heartbeat International.

While working in the pregnancy center I learned about Abortion Pill Rescue Network and was encouraged by my peers to join the team of nurse consultants. I worked as a nurse consultant for two years prior to becoming a part of the Medical Impact Team. I accepted the position of Nurse Manager with Heartbeat International in November 2019.

Tell us about your experiences sharing APR with others through presentations.

Educating the community on how to help a woman who is desperately seeking to reverse her abortion is life-changing and the impact goes beyond what we can predict. The audience is receptive and amazed at how this treatment works. Likewise, I stand in awe at what God has given us—a treatment that can give women a second chance at choice! It really is amazing.

Tell us about your experiences helping clients on the APR Hotline and now overseeing the Hotline as one of the Healthcare Team Managers.

There are currently four Healthcare Team Managers who rotate through the hotline schedule. We each oversee the hotline one week out of the month. The hotline consists of 34 nurse consultants, 3 Nurse Advocates, and a total of 42 shifts per week. The days are tough. We experience spiritual warfare, and the battles are difficult.

Our team believes in the mission of APRN. We are strong in faith and have been called to this position for such a time as this. We fight to save the lives of babies and to protect women and families from the pain of abortion. The devil attempts to deceive and divide but we stand firm that the devil will never win. Our faith in God, our leadership, and our commitment to each other get us through the toughest days. Oversight week is one of the most exhausting weeks, but it is also full of rewards. Making a difference in the lives of women, children, and families makes it worth every second.

Tell us about working on the Medical Impact Team.

Educating Pregnancy Help Organizations on how to best meet the needs of their community is important. I enjoy helping organizations develop medical policy and procedures that will allow them to be successful when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, abortion, STI, and disruption of sexual integrity within their community.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I love educating people and I get to do it often here at Heartbeat International. Whether I am teaching the abortion-minded client about reversal or the Pregnancy Help Center about starting medical services, I am sharing useful information that can be used to make the world a little better.

What are your favorite things to do outside of work?

Visiting the beach and spending time with friends and family is great self-care for me. You can find me on the dock enjoying God’s beautiful creation.

What is something else you would like to share?

When I was 13 years old, I discovered my love for Women’s Health while volunteering as a Candy Striper in the Labor and Delivery Unit of the local hospital. As a young nursing student, I took a job in an abortion clinic because of my desire to help women and to also increase my knowledge in Gynecology. The time spent in the abortion clinic revealed a painful truth about abortion but most of all has given me an undying passion to protect the preborn and those affected by abortion. After leaving the abortion clinic, I went on to enjoy a successful career in obstetrical nursing. Prior to joining the team at Heartbeat International, I spent four years as a nurse manager of a Pregnancy Center where I was given the support I needed to begin my healing journey. I am grateful to God for his grace and mercy and for giving purpose to my past. 

With laws recently passed (TX Heartbeat Bill) and legislation pending (Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health) along with many others, we believe this is a “must-read” for Boards and Leadership teams of Pregnancy Help Clinics.

Now is the time, at the board level through the entire organization, to re-visit your Policy & Procedures (along with your Medical Director) to ensure they are inclusive of all that is necessary to empower a woman to make a life-affirming decision.

Heartbeat's Director of Medical Impact, Christa Brown BSN, RN, LAS, recently wrote the following article for our September Medical Matters publication, as first in a series that outlines techniques abortion facility staff have used to deceive women seeking information to make a pregnancy decision. As you read the article, think about timing, accessibility, and approved protocols.

Overall, boards are responsible for developing and overseeing written P&P that clarify the values of the organization, increase professionalism, improve communications, make leadership transitions more seamless, provide protection, and release the staff to be creative and productive because they know where “boundaries” are to serve clients with care and competence.

We hope this piece opens a great dialogue for your leadership team.

Read the full article "The Many Ways Abortion Providers Deceive Women #1: Fetal heartbeat and fetal heart motion"

Deception: “Your baby has no heartbeat” (read the truth)

For more help with policy and procedures, or other board matters in the midst of changing times, utilize the Heartbeat Governing Essentials manual or training, the Heartbeat Academy, or reach out to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..