"This is one more evidence that pregnancy help organizations are winning the battle for life."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday | January 14, 2015
Contact: Jay Hobbs, Director of Communications and Marketing
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COLUMBUS, OHIO – Responding to a report from LifeSiteNews.com uncovering an ongoing plan between the Maryland chapter of NARAL Pro-Choice America and the public officials in Montgomery County, Md., to impede or eliminate pregnancy help organizations, Heartbeat International President Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., pointed to the success of pregnancy centers in her companion article at LifeSiteNews.com.

Read LifeSiteNews.com Report Here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/exclusive-e-mails-reveal-maryland-officials-collaborating-with-naral-to-shu

Read Peggy Hartshorn’s Response Here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/why-do-abortionists-go-to-such-lengths-to-eliminate-us-because-we-threaten

“Heartbeat International and our worldwide network of life-affirming organizations believe no mother should feel so alone, so vulnerable, or so coerced that she ends her child’s life through abortion,” Hartshorn, who has served as Heartbeat International’s President since 1993, wrote. “These vital organizations enable a mother to make a true choice through a variety of services, including ultrasound, options counseling, maternity housing, and the ability to make an adoption plan.”

“And this is why we pose such a threat to NARAL and company. It’s not just that we are their competition. It’s that we are winning.”

Hartshorn’s comments come in the wake of the publication of an email string dating back as far as 2009, obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, which capture ongoing strategy between Maryland’s NARAL chapter president Jodi Finkelstein and current Montgomery County Council president George Leventhal.

The pair discussed the County’s ongoing strategy to compel government speech from Heartbeat International affiliate Centro Tepeyac Silver Spring Women’s Center. Montgomery County first passed a city ordinance Feb. 2, 2010 requiring, “limited service pregnancy resource centers” – any facility that does not perform abortions – to post a sign in English and Spanish in its waiting room saying that “the Center does not have a licensed medical professional on staff” and that “the Montgomery County Health Officer encourages women who are or may be pregnant to consult with a licensed health care provider.”

A lawsuit brought by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of Centro Tepeyac resulted in three separate court victories, which finally resulted in the County dropping its unconstitutional ordinance and paying Centro Tepeyac $375,000 in legal fees.

“Pregnancy help organizations like Centro Tepeyac exist so that every mother can feel loved and supported during her pregnancy,” Hartshorn said. “The only opponents to this mission are those who, like NARAL, stand to gain financially and ideologically by the intentional killing of a child within the womb.”

Tweet This: Pregnancy help organizations exist so that every mother can feel loved and supported during pregnancy.

April and Derrick

At seventeen and a half I joined the Military and started to get a little taste of freedom.  I was sent to training with the North Carolina National Guard, when I fell in love with my now husband of twelve years. He was in the Navy and left to be stationed in California. You’re now saying, “How is that a great testimony, and how does the second chance come into play?”  The guy I fell in love with was not the guy my parents wanted for me. Why not? Let me tell you.  Biracial relationships were not allowed in the family - period.  

So when I came home from training, I had to make a choice - my family or my African American boyfriend. I choose my family. Months later I turned eighteen and made a choice to move out of my family’s home which gave me more freedom to do what I wanted to do. I started to drink underage, do drugs, and party. I also still had feelings for my boyfriend that I was told I could not be with. We reconnected and fell in love again with a long distance relationship. I was headed down a path that was not pleasing to God, or my family, and was very empty.  

The life I was now living included drinking, drugs and non-marital sex which kept me from facing reality and I thought I “had it all.” I lived by myself, paid my own bills and had a great relationship with my family. I was also able to have a relationship with my boyfriend without my parents knowing. Well, that was until my boyfriend came for a visit for a week or so. One night we went to a club with his friends and mine and were drinking a lot.  That night changed my life forever. Yes, that was the night I conceived my son Derrick. I found out about four to five weeks into the pregnancy but I continued to live the same lifestyle.  

I was running scared. I was scared that I would lose my family and scared that my boyfriend would leave me. I mean, why would he care?  We only talked on the phone and saw each other a few days out of the year. Now at the age of twenty, I found myself pregnant, scared and alone. How can I keep it all? I loved my boyfriend and my family at the same time. I did not want to lose any of them. The only person that knew was my best friend. In my mind I was trying to come up with a fix. I had two options- keep the baby and lose my family and boyfriend, or abort and no one had to know. I could go on with my life and still be loved by all.

One day I found out about LifeLine Pregnancy Help Center.  I did not know too much about it, but knew it had “help” in its name. I walked into the doors and that is where the love begins. They talked to me and I felt cared for. My heart changed when she (my client advocate) handed me a tiny silicone baby in my hand. I held it and studied it; I still remember her saying “this is how big your baby is.” I questioned “How? I’m just a few weeks pregnant” - but it was true. My baby had a heartbeat. He had my DNA. He was a boy, and had hands and feet. My mind changed in a matter of an hour; I could not ever hurt my child. I choose to tell Raymond, the father. It went better than what I thought it would. He was so happy he was going to be a dad! 

I chose to hide my pregnancy from my family, but they found out and disowned me and my unborn child. The pain I felt was real, it hurt, but I loved them so much and wanted them to be a part of their grandchild’s life. That did not happen. I had to do this by myself, with a long distance relationship with the father.  That is where Life Line Pregnancy Help Center stepped in. I started taking classes and watching videos on how the pregnancy was going and how to take care of a baby. They provided me an option to “earn while I learned.” At six months into my pregnancy, my appendix ruptured and my son’s life and mine were in great danger. I fought hard and gave up everything to keep my son and there was no way I was giving up now. Going through this and being in the hospital for weeks made me question myself again. I had no family to help out if something was to happen to me. I fought and pulled through and my son defied all odds and made it too.  

I gave birth to my son on June 10, 2001. He was so cute!  That day I found a love that I had never found before. I would give up everything all over again for him. When my son was a few weeks old, I made a choice not to return to work and move to Gulfport, MS with his dad. His father’s face lit up the moment that he met his son for the first time. On March 1, 2002, when Derrick was only nine months old, Raymond and I were married. Being married to someone in the military is a job of its own - moving a lot of times to many different states. In 2003, I got the unexpected news of my grandmothers passing. I was not sure how to attend the funeral, and not upset my parents by attending. To my surprise, my father pulled me aside in front of my husband and child and wanted to mend the relationship. That was the second best day of my life. He was able to see and talk to his grandson and son-in-law.

On May 13, 2004, we brought a beautiful daughter named Hailey into this world. While being focused on being a good mother to my children, going on with my life and just living day to day, I did not put my trust in God. I finally realized it made my life a lot easier when I put my faith in God and allowed him to take control of my family’s lives. To the present day I am thankful for God, LifeLine Pregnancy Help Center  staff, and family for supporting me and never giving up. I believe my experiences in life have played a sufficient role in helping other expecting mothers with their labor and delivery. I currently am working as a Doula in my community.  May God’s love shine through me and play a sufficient role in their lives.

Laura and Mason

I found myself a millennial child in her early twenties in a life of freedom and carelessness. Away from home, and away from the only life id ever known, I was trying to take hold of this new life of independence. I gave myself no limits, I wanted to be able to say I had experienced it all. As months passed in my new home in Columbus, I watched  as my drive for school slowly, but surely diminish. My priorities switched over to daily social gatherings where drugs and alcohol were being used, I mean after all that's what most college kids in their early twenties are doing, right? Perhaps I was just curious, but that drive to "experience it all" led me into a life I never imagined for myself.

After about two years of lots of parties and wasted time and money, I was lost. My family that was once so close, hardly spoke to me and I dropped out of my senior year of college. My relationship (with my current boyfriend) and excessive partying sent me into a stress level I had never reached before. Significant as well as awful things occurred to my boyfriend that changed our whole relationship. The things that happened made me wanna be there for him and help him. But it inevitably changed our relationship. As a small wedge began to build between us, I found myself seeking refuge with other people. It was at this point that I found myself in a compromising position with another boy. It was easy to cope with the shame and guilt of my multiplying transgressions cause I could just party and forget about everything. After finally coming to a point where neither boys in this triangle were willing to deal with the progressing situation, I found myself pregnant.

Within the week of discovering this, I began being pulled in several very different directions. It took some time but I finally came to the realization I hadn't even thought about what Laura wanted. Terrified and emotional, I didn't even get the chance to deal with these emotions personally, it seemed all my peers had better answers for me. The option of abortion was unfathomable to me, but at one point facing this pregnancy with the uncertainty of his paternity seemed more terrifying than the abortion. The time between my positive test result and my first ultrasound left me strained. When the day arrived, it took about 15 minutes to find my little one in my womb. I stared anxiously at the black screen awaiting for something to appear. In one seconds time a blurred imaged finally appeared and in the next moment my whole life changed as a heartbeat became visible.

At that point I became very selfish, I didn't care about what other people wanted me to do, I had seen that heartbeat and knew I couldn't let it go. After several months of many friends pulling me toward erasing this "mistake" I came to a decision. It wasn't this little boy's fault he was conceived. I couldn't believe I could be so enamored with this pea-sized life within me. I looked forward and saw a life of purpose and hope for myself all because this little boy was here. It wasn't going to be the end of my life, it was going to be the start of it. I could not imagine my life without this soul in it now. 9 months later I was holding him in my arms, and knew I had made the right decision. At that point no one else mattered, just my little boy and I.

Victoria and Christiana

I am forever grateful for the Bowie Pregnancy Clinic, and especially my counselor, Marsha, who I first met in May 2000.  This is my story.

Upon the realization that I had missed my period, my heart immediately sank at the thought that I could possibly be pregnant.  I was only a 15 year old high school student.  What would I do?  I thought there was no possible way I could bring a child into this world and be able to meet all the needs that a child would need.  As panic sunk in, I called my then boyfriend (now husband) and he drove to my house with a home pregnancy test.  Our hearts were racing as we awaited the results…. the home pregnancy test showed that I was indeed pregnant.  Not knowing what to do, we researched pregnancy centers in the hopes that they could provide more information and advice on our options.  That is when we found the Bowie Pregnancy Clinic.

Our minds were pretty made up when we arrived for our appointment at the Clinic.  We had decided that having an abortion was the best option.  There were so many factors working against us having a baby, it just made the most sense to not have the baby.  We met our counselor, Marsha, who spoke with us for nearly two hours that day.  She was such a kind and caring woman, who answered every question we had with no absolutely no judgment.  She not once frowned upon us when we told her what we wanted to do, but instead educated us on our potential options.  At the end of our counseling session, she invited us to come back that following Wednesday for a sonogram.  Even though we already had our minds set on the abortion, we agreed. 

I remember Marsha calling me every day until my Wednesday sonogram to check on how I was doing.  She would always end our phone conversations with a prayer, which as time went on, I found extremely comforting.

The Wednesday sonogram was such an eye opening experience.  There, we found out our due date and was able to listen to our baby’s actual heartbeat.  That was a truly breathtaking experience.  That moment itself completely changed our lives.

As we highly contemplated changing our decision of having an abortion to keeping the baby, we faced many, many obstacles.  Our parents disapproved of our decision, we had to figure out what we were going to do about our schooling, we had to find a place to live, we had to find jobs, and so much more in the preparation of having and raising a baby, and especially at such a young age.  Through every step of the way, every obstacle we had to overcome, Marsha and the Clinic were there for us.  Marsha would call us weekly, sometimes daily, to check on how we were doing and would offer us endless encouragement through each and every obstacle.  With her support and with the support of all of the prayers we had from the Clinic, we overcame every obstacle… even the seemingly impossible ones. 

On January 6, 2001, we gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby girl that we named Christiana.  Marsha was one of the first people we called with the great news.  She came almost immediately with her hands full of gifts from herself and the Clinic.  Our parents, who initially disapproved with our decision, were overjoyed with the birth of their first 

granddaughter.  Time stood still and everything changed once we brought Christiana into our lives.  The seemingly impossible obstacles that once stood in our way somehow found paths and we felt, for the first time in our lives, that everything happens for a reason and everything was going to be okay.

Today, my husband Christian and I have been happily together for 15 years.  We have both worked extremely hard balancing work and finishing school while raising a child and are currently working in our careers as an Engineer and a Paralegal.  We got married in 2006 and had our second daughter, Mia, in 2009.  Christiana, our oldest, is now a 13 year old honor roll student getting ready to enter high school.  Christiana and Mia are, without a doubt, the joys of our lives and we could not imagine life without them.

I say that the Bowie Pregnancy Clinic helped saved my daughter’s life because they opened up our eyes and gave us the knowledge, the strength and the encouragement to help us carry out our decision in keeping our baby.  The Clinic brought our counselor, Marsha, into our life who guided us through each tough obstacle that a young teen faces having a baby at a young age.  Without her, or the Clinic, our daughter would not be here today.  But I also say the Bowie Pregnancy Clinic helped saved my life because in deciding that I wanted to keep my daughter, it opened up my eyes as to my life goals, and it gave me the push I needed to fulfill them.  I am advocating for this Clinic because it truly saves lives.