This month we are highlighting Ashley Vance, one of our Healthcare Team Managers. Ashley assists our affiliates with medical questions and oversees the Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline. Before joining the Medical Impact Team almost three years ago, Ashley served as an Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline Consultant. Ashley also brings a background of Medical Surgical Nursing to the Medical Impact Team. If you speak with Ashley, you will be blessed with wisdom, encouragement, and inspiration in your work within the pregnancy help community!

Where did you grow up and go to school?

I grew up in northern Alberta. I left my hometown in the last year of high school where I moved to British Columbia and pursued my nursing career. I completed my nursing degree through Athabasca University.

Share with us about your family.

I am blessed to come from an extremely tight knit Christian family. I have one brother and I call my mom my best friend! I have a family of my own with my lovely husband and we have two small children, plus another one on the way set to arrive January 2022!

Tell us about what brought you to Heartbeat International.

Well, that is a God thing! I felt so strongly in my last year of nursing school that I wanted to join the prolife movement and have God use me in whatever way I was needed. I reached out locally and through my church but never heard back. Doubt crept in and I began to wonder if I was wanting to do something that didn’t actually exist! However, I could never shake the feeling of the call God placed on my heart so I started to do research and every time I kept coming back to the same name- Heartbeat International. I learned about Abortion Pill Reversal and was desperately eager to join! However, being Canadian I assumed that wouldn’t be possible so I reached out to see if anyone could connect me with a Canadian contact. To my surprise they let me know that they were looking for hotline nurses and the opportunity was open to me as well. I was SO excited! Along with being a mother, working for Heartbeat has been the biggest honor, joy and blessing of my life!

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

Public speaking and presentations are the biggest areas of growth that I have experienced in my career. It’s so humbling for me to speak in front of other prolife individuals because I deeply admire and respect them! With the guidance, support, and prayers of Christa Brown I have learned so much about this extremely important skill- Spreading the word about the APR mission! Every presentation I have done has connected me with others in the movement and strengthened my understanding of the many other life affirming roles as well.

Tell us about how you offer assistance to affiliates within their pregnancy help centers.

We offer assistance to affiliates in whatever capacity it is needed. That could be establishing medical services, information on STI testing, adding APR or how to find a medical director. For example, during the onset of Covid-19 we worked quickly to ensure we could assist pregnancy centers with policies and insights in a rapidly changing landscape. We work diligently to make sure we provide affiliates with the most up to date and in-depth information available.

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

My time on the hotline was where I fell in love with the mission. I remember my first shift so well and the feeling of my first call- I was so nervous but so grateful that I had the opportunity to speak with someone in the midst of a pregnancy crisis and share the good news: There are people out there that have no judgement for you, only love and that help is available. This line of work is hard, I’ve shed happy tears and sad ones alone in my office, but every second has been worth it! Now as a manager I work closely with the nurses, and I have seen the network grow in so many ways. It’s been an absolute blessing to witness!

Tell us about working on the Medical Impact Team.

In my eyes the Medical Impact Team is its own family. We are bonded by a love of women, the unborn, family and medical science. We have a unique role within Heartbeat where we oversee the APR hotline, nurse consultants, answer affiliate questions and assist with ultrasound training. There is always more to learn and it’s very fulfilling!

What do you enjoy the most about your work?

My favorite thing (and this is harder than one might think to choose!) is seeing God in details. He really comes through, and often in the most surprising of ways for these women. Sometimes it’s through a Provider willing to see a client after hours on a holiday, sometimes it’s a pharmacy that is open a few minutes late which allows a client to get started on the Progesterone in the middle of the night. Most often it’s in the courage He gives these women to reach out and find us. He whispers into their heart that there is a way out, a second chance available. Witnessing the ways they find us and hearing their stories gives me tremendous respect for these women that fight so hard to fix a decision that they regret and to now save the life of their precious unborn baby.

What are your favorite things to do outside of work?

Outside of work I enjoy slow days drinking coffee on my front porch surrounded by family! I love books, current events, horses, and good conversations with loved ones.

What else would you like to share?

How much we value and pray for the many Pregnancy Centers and prolife ministries around the world! We see how deeply you care and love for these women. None of your hard work goes unnoticed. It’s a true honor to serve alongside all of you!

There has been quite a bit of buzz around this topic since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Ministries across the country have found themselves on vacillating ends of the spectrum between empty and full houses with burgeoning waiting lists. So why the variance?

I recently spoke with homes from different regions of the country, each with varied programming models, ministry models, and eligibility criteria. I found that the homes with low occupancy rates (For the purposes of this writing, “low” will be less than 25%) repeatedly described their experiences of receiving calls from women in the community inquiring about their home or even interviewing some women, however, these women did not meet the criteria to be eligible to move into the home. Reasons ranged from past or current drug use, criminal record, previous pregnancies, previous children removed from care, children currently in care, or perhaps a generally poor attitude. Needless to say, this can be an exhausting daily merry-go-round for ministries. 

Excerpted from The Power of Pregnancy Help, a book telling the story of the first 50 years of Heartbeat International and the pregnancy help movement. The Power of Pregnancy Help is available wherever books are sold.

Chapter 5: Lasting Foundations for the Movement

Peggy Hartshorn

Each of our three co-founders, Dr. John Hillabrand, Lore Maier, and Sister Paula Vandegaer, brought special gifts to the establishment of AAI, and they incorporated into our work the values, purposes, and principles that characterized not only AAI’s first twenty years, but also have become the foundation for the growth and development of Heartbeat International over the last thirty years. In the previous three chapters we have tried to capture some of their special gifts and the life experiences and expertise that have left clear marks on the pregnancy help movement both then and now.

The name founders carries with it the concept that these first leaders laid down the foundations for the organization they started, Alternative to Abortion International. And today, that organization, now Heartbeat International, is indeed built on those foundations. However, our founders believed, and Heartbeat believes today, that they were building for the entire pregnancy help movement, then and now – not just for those that became or would become official affiliates. Anyone who provided life-affirming pregnancy help was and is welcome, all learn and contribute, all work together to advance the mission of saving and changing lives. So, the foundations were built and are maintained now for the entire pregnancy help movement.

. . .

Always More Than Saving Babies

All three of our co-founders had a view of our work that encompassed more than saving babies. Those who describe the mission of pregnancy help centers as “saving babies” are only describing a part of our founders’ vision and mission and part of the movement’s vision today.

Our founders focused on both mother and baby, and, in fact, on the family and the entire culture. They saw that we were involved in this work to serve women in need and help them so they could save their babies, but also (especially in the work of Sister Paula) that we were in a position to help women understand their true womanhood. Dr. John and Lore’s writings and talks also show that they viewed an attack on the sanctity of human life in the womb as an attack on society as a whole and on all humanity that would have profound ramifications. Lore tried to warn of the effect of abortion not only on women themselves and the family, but also on the perpetrators (the abortionists), and even on those who merely stood by and observed (the general public).

The first logo that was chosen for AAI, used in the very first communications in early 1972, was called “Hearts of Gold.” It is not a baby, nor is it a mother and child. The logo features two larger gold hearts (with some lines and markings, the result of life’s scars, experience, maturity, and wisdom) surrounding a tiny, unmarked, pure golden heart that represents the innocent human child. The logo shows that we need to protect, shelter, and nurture that child, born and unborn. The hearts of gold represent the family as God intended it. With the family relationships disrupted and in need of healing, the larger, sheltering hearts could be those of us in this movement protecting the child. Heartbeat’s logo has changed to the “Heart of the Future,” but Heartbeat International still features our “Hearts of Gold” on our premier Legacy Award since God’s plan for the family is still at the heart of our mission. One of the amazing things about the early AAI Academies (Conferences) was the diversity of expertise represented in the “Faculty” or conference presenters. To help the emerging centers with program development were marriage and family experts, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, doctors and nurses (with expertise on pregnancy and maternity care, fetal development, labor and delivery, nursing, sexually transmitted diseases, infertility and more), early childhood education experts, researchers, social workers, mothers, fathers, and more.

Programs developing then within the first centers (despite the early term EPS or Emergency Pregnancy Services) and first maternity homes were focused not just on the crisis intervention need for women coming in for a pregnancy test, but on parenting and family unification. For the “negative test client,” programs were developing to help her understand the risks of sexual intimacy outside of marriage. Centers were developing referral networks in their own community and finding like-minded potential partners who could amplify these messages – for example, in schools and in the culture at large.

Today, if you attend a Heartbeat International Conference or any other gathering of pregnancy help organizations around the world, you will find the same. We are about much more than saving babies. Our foundation stones are motherhood, fatherhood, healthy families, and a pro-family culture.

Special Message from Jor-El Godsey, President

The Supreme Court of the United States has agreed to hear the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case. What may or may not change for your organization as this case comes before the highest court in our nation? How will it impact your clients? Donors? Community? These are just a few of the questions we hope to explore between now and the time we get a ruling on this case. Keep an eye on our eNewsletters (make sure you're signed up at your affiliate dashboard!), webinars, podcast, and more.

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by Brooke Myrick, BSN, RN, LAS
Healthcare Team Manager, Heartbeat International

Pressure, stress, lack of support, and limited finances. Women with unplanned pregnancies often find themselves facing most or all of these challenges. Often it is not a matter of the pregnancy being unwanted. The external factors surrounding the pregnancy make it seem impossible. Women are looking for a plan, a solution to their circumstances, hope, and support. When women choose abortion as a solution to their situation, many experience immediate regret. Statistics show that more than 2,500 lives have been saved (and counting) as women successfully stop their chemical abortions and save their children through the Abortion Pill Rescue Network.

What is the success rate of Abortion Pill Reversal?

• Oral Protocol 68% Reversal Rate
• Injection Protocols 64% Reversal Rate¹

Using the APR protocol to reverse the effects of mifepristone roughly triples the chances of a live birth. The data that APRNetwork has been collecting and continues to collect supports the conclusion that the effects of mifepristone can be stopped by the administration of progesterone.

1. Delgado, G. M.D.,Condly, S. Ph.D., Davenport, M.M.D., M.S., Tinnakornsrisuphap, T. Ph.D., Mack, J. Ph.D., NP, RN, Khauv, J. B.S., and Zhou P., A

Case Series Detailing the Successful Reversal of the Effects of Mifepristone Using Progesterone. Issues in Law & Medicine, Volume 33, Number 1, 2018.

To receive an APR Provider Kit, updated APR Protocol or for additional information, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Great topic of discussion here. First, I’ll share that you are not alone. This is the most common place of exasperation among maternity housing ministries that I hear of on a regular basis! Several factors may play into this, chief among them being our high rate of unemployment nationally at this time. Most communities are facing labor shortages with ministries not being any different.

So, what to do to keep the ship afloat during the storm? While we have a shortage in labor, we ironically do not have a shortage of unpaid labor in most communities! My recommendation is to make the most of this season to build a first-class volunteer program in your ministry. A thriving volunteer program can bolster every aspect of your ministry from recruitment, evangelism, programmatic operations, and especially development/fundraising.