by Julie Stepp

I can’t believe Roe v. Wade has been overturned. My whole life, abortion has been a thing, and Christians around me have been praying for the reversal of this landmark decision, made 22 years before I was born. I occasionally prayed that God would overturn Roe, but I did it kind of out of obligation, without thinking about it (or abortion for that matter) very much. Abortion to me was a distant and abhorrent evil only the “outsiders” dealt with, outsiders being people who were outside my circle, and outside my sphere of influence. My only hope to make any difference was to offer a feeble prayer that one day the decision that had made abortion legal in my country could be overturned…or so I thought.

One Sunday when I was 17, I was walking out of church and saw some baby bottles sitting on a table. Nobody had told me why they were there, and out of curiosity and my overwhelming desire to have a baby of my own (we’re talking about secretly climbing up to the attic to hold a baby doll to imagine what it would be like type of desire here) I walked up to the table and read the pamphlet, slipping a bottle or two out of the building to fill for the fundraiser. I read the pamphlet over and over about how the pregnancy center helped women and babies vulnerable to abortion, and I thought about how much I would like to save two lives – the mama and the baby – from destruction. I filled out a volunteer application, and the center accepted it, shy and slightly awkward as I was. I spent hours in the back room folding donated baby clothes, peeking my head around the corner every now and then to smile at the clients walking down the hallway. I thought they were “other,” “different,” “not like me,” and I wondered in the secret places of my heart if they would accept me because I was different. They were here because they were struggling with motherhood, and what did I have to offer anyway? Was I really able to help, despite my very sheltered background and lack of motherhood? I wondered…

Then off I went to college, dropping into the center to say hi every Christmas or spring break. When I graduated, I heard they needed an assistant manager for one of their locations, so I thought I’d apply. They accepted my application (now much less awkward and much less shy), and put me to work doing all kinds of things – fundraising, counseling, record-keeping. They decided to leave me home while the rest of the staff went to the Heartbeat International Annual Conference in Dallas (boy, they raved about Heartbeat conferences!), and while I was alone in the office preparing for a baby bottle fundraiser speech, the Lord spoke to me very powerfully about Esther and how she spoke up for her people to save them from death.

This verse in particular stood out to me: “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14, emphasis mine). I felt like this passage hit me in the chest with its weight, and so I started speaking at the churches who would allow me about what God had laid on my heart. I told fellow believers in the pews that now was a significant moment in history - the heartbeat bill had just been written into law in Ohio - and it wasn’t time to give up or turn the other way. It was time to speak up and bring that relief and deliverance to moms, dads, and babies in our community. If we didn’t, the results for us and our posterity could be very grim. Then I would close my speech with a call to action – “please pick up a baby bottle in the back and check out our mobile ultrasound unit in the parking lot.” I laugh as I write this – the pastors probably weren’t expecting such a hard-hitting prelude!

The executive director heard about my Esther speech and invited me to give it at the center’s biggest event of the year. We worked and reworked my speech to make it exactly what we wanted, and I added a little something to it this time. I remember standing there, looking out over the donors and friends seated at the many tables, and telling them that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was the only way we were going to make abortion unthinkable and unwanted. I told them how no one who truly understood their value bestowed by their Creator would knowingly take the life of their own unborn child, another of God’s creation, and that we needed to take this Good News to our community because we had a chance in history to defeat this evil and save a generation. That night was one of my last at Elizabeth’s Hope Pregnancy Resources. The next week I moved to a new city and started my new job at Heartbeat International.

I kept thinking about what I had said. My own voice kept ringing in my ears. Now is the time. It’s only the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People around me would bring up the phrase “for such a time as this” and I would just smile. They had no idea what was going on in my head and heart.

Two years passed, and I got married and had my own baby, and then I felt a greater reason to help moms and rescue babies. Abortion must be eradicated. This was no longer something I just vaguely wanted. This was no longer a half-hearted prayer. And now I further understood how to help women. How to meet them where they were and how to offer them hope.

And then suddenly this was the moment. This was the moment that I didn’t realize how much I had been waiting for. I had found a way to help outside of what protection (or lack thereof) the law offered. I had found a way to help women. But the possibility for Roe to be overturned? We all held our breath, and waited, and wondered. Would the leaked decision of the Supreme Court hold true? Would they really overturn Roe v. Wade? And then it happened. I got the text, and I cried. It was finally official. The decision that had sent so many to their grave was finally overturned. The power to protect the gift of Life has been returned to its people.

I see God’s hand in my life personally to lead me to where I am at this moment. I see that He was intentional. I wonder why, and I am in awe that He would orchestrate for me to be in the pregnancy help movement right now. I am not on the sidelines looking at the landscape of our country and thinking “Oh that’s interesting – I wonder who I could give money to.” No, I wake up every morning and do something that actually makes a difference to moms and their babies. They are no longer “other,” “different,” and “unreachable” to me. They are real women that need help and are within my area of influence. This is what our country needs in this moment. We are the safety net for women who might believe the lie that they need abortion. It’s as if the chains of control have been broken, and Life has the freedom to reign.

When I go to the annual 4th of July festivities this year with my family and friends (on top of the hill beside my grandma’s old house), I’ll be thinking about how God truly is the one who frees the oppressed. He truly does answer prayer, and He aligns the events of history to bring forth His goodness. I’ll hold my wide-eyed son on my knee as he sees fireworks for the first time. And I’ll rejoice that for his generation, Roe will only be a story of the distant past. The oppressed have been set free. Liberty has come for the captives! Hallelujah!

June 24, 2022 will go down in history as the day Roe v. Wade was overturned, sending the abortion discussion back to the states. We invite you to share with us what this day means to you, personally.

Since the overturning of Roe with the Dobbs decision, pregnancy help organizations have found themselves more and more often in the crosshairs of abortion advocates. Accusing our life-saving work of deceiving women, being careless with confidential information, and impersonating abortion clinics, the rage against pregnancy help centers ignited in June of 2022.

For the most part, the rage and anger have slowed since then, but often anniversaries (like the Dobbs decision day of June 24), holidays, and even long weekends can bring a resurgence of physical and/or digital attacks and harrassment. 

While we may be the target of their anger, we are not the true reason.

“Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.” John 15:20-21 NLT

After all, we have been helping women overcome the obstacles that force them into the profiteering practice of abortion for the over fifty years. Our motivation has never been the politics but the practical need every woman has to be loved and supported in her pregnancy. Our joy is helping her, and our reward is fulfilling the call to love her through her valley of decision.

“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.” Matthew 5:11 NLT

Persecution is no fun, but it does bring “great reward” ahead! In the midst of it, we can also realize the reward of being a partner with Christ.

“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.” 1 Peter 4:12-13 NLT

Along with the proper spiritual perspective of protests and persecutions we can take practical steps to protect ourselves and our centers in preparing for increased protest activities.

Security

Security systems are highly recommended. Especially those that use cameras to capture activity in and around your building (if you have your own building). Having cameras may not fully dissuade negative activity but they can help in showing criminal activity to law enforcement. 

Policy

Policy and protocols are helpful to protect our personnel as much as they help protect the ministry. Consider adopting some practices, at least for this heightened season, like having at least two people in the pregnancy center.at a time and having training for anyone who might interact with clients that includes identifying fake clients.

Report

Should protestors assemble it might be helpful to contact local law enforcement and advise them of the situation. If peaceful you might just use the “non-emergency” number and explain the situation as you see it. Of course, if protesters begin to harass or threaten anyone or anything (verbally or physically) report this immediately to the authorities. In addition, threats of violence or vandalism of a PHO can be reported to your local FBI Field Office and/or submitted through the FBI Tip Line at FBI.gov. Sometimes this prompts a faster response than a local Police Department can or would provide. The FBI is taking this very seriously and has an open investigation on Jane's Revenge. Click here for an FBI resource booklet.

Insurance

Have your property insurance information handy. Should vandalism occur, right after reporting the incident to law enforcement you might want to be ready to reach out to your insurance provider to discuss filing a claim.

Prayer

This is last on this list, but it is the greatest. Prayer is our partnership with God in fulfilling His Will for our lives, this ministry, and the life-affirming outcomes He desires. Prayer is power for the spiritual warfare that is part and parcel of the landscape in which we serve. We are called to pray even for our “enemies” (Mt 5:44). Fortunately, we know that we are on God’s side and can fully trust in Him to walk with us and work through us.

The Lord will also be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You. Psalm 9:9-10 NASB

by Matthew Doane, Esq.
Staff Attorney, Heartbeat International

One of my favorite bible verses on children and parenting comes from Psalm 127:3-5, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.” While thoughts of quivers full of arrows and enemies at the gate pull at my J.R.R. Tolkien-reading heart, verse 3 begins with a declaration that children are a reward from God, a heritage from Him.

While the word heritage can have many meanings, in this context “heritage” can be translated to the Hebrew word of “nachala,” which can mean “assigned by God.” Thus, not only are children gifts from above, but God has specifically assigned us, of all the men in the world, to be our child’s father. What an awesome, yet humbling realization.

As the sole person in the entire world that God has ordained to father and raise our particular children, how do we fulfill this awesome and daunting responsibility? Who better to look to as an example than Joseph, the husband of Mary and the person God selected to serve as Jesus’ stepfather during His time on Earth? While Joseph is never quoted in the bible and appears only briefly in the Gospel narrative, there are lessons to be learned from this important person in Jesus’ life during His time on Earth:

Righteousness

Joseph is described as a “just” man in Matthew 1:19 who is unwilling to put Mary to shame when he learns that she is with child. We are told throughout scripture that justness, or righteousness, is one of the chief attributes of God. As men and fathers, we should imitate Joseph, who imitates God, and do our best to live a righteous life.

Faithfulness

As Joseph is considering divorcing Mary quietly, an angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream and instructs him to not be afraid in taking Mary as his wife and that Jesus would “save his people from their sins.” When Joseph awoke, “he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” Joseph followed the Lord’s instruction and was faithful to his God throughout the few instances he is mentioned in the bible. While we may not have an angel of the Lord appear to us, as fathers we too should follow the Lord’s instructions left in scripture on how to be Godly fathers to our children and “bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” Ephesians 6:4b.

Protection

One of our principal duties as fathers is to protect our children. After the wise men departed from their visit to the child Jesus, another angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him that Herod was out to destroy Jesus. The angel instructed Joseph to flee with Jesus and Mary to Egypt for their safety. When he awoke, Joseph immediately took Jesus and Mary to Egypt under the cover of night. Since Jesus, the Son of God, was also truly human during His time on Earth, He needed the parental care and protection of His adopted earthly father. We too must provide for and protect our children.

Modesty

The Gospels refer to Jesus as a carpenter, a trade he likely learned from Joseph. The King of all Kings, the Lord of Lords, was entrusted to a carpenter. We don’t have to be powerful, wealthy kings to be good, godly fathers to our children (which is good, right?). God has assigned them to us for His reasons, and our job is to be an earthly reflection of His fatherly love to them.

Fathers, we are blessed because our quivers are full! Let us celebrate this and God’s assignment of His children to us this Father’s Day.

We share many stories of women who have been served by pregnancy help organizations. The lesser-known stories are of the men, the fathers, whose lives are transformed as well by the work of pregnancy help.

Oftentimes, the new fathers are just as scared as the new mothers when faced with an unexpected pregnancy. Pregnancy help organizations frequently provide fatherhood and parenting classes, an invaluable service that seeks to foster families and lives in all situations.

Such is the case of Cole.

When Cole found out his girlfriend Zayda was pregnant, he really didn't know what to think. Zayda was 14, at the time, Cole was 15.

Petrified as to how they could support a baby at a young age, Cole introduced the idea of abortion because he thought it was their only choice. Zayda suggested they first visit a pregnancy center.

Here, for the first time, Cole felt that he could be a dad.

When they offered a free ultrasound, everything changed. Seeing the ultrasound image of baby Delia Jo was the moment he fully grasped the reality of life for his unborn daughter.

Zayda was 10 weeks along, and the baby’s arms, legs, and heartbeat were evident. The fear and apprehension of being parents faded the moment Cole saw the ultrasound image and heard the flutter of his daughter’s beating heart. 

“I realized that I created a human then, you know?” Cole said, “And I felt like keeping her.”

After hearing their baby’s heartbeat, both Cole and Zayda knew they were going to have a baby.

He was at the hospital when his daughter Delia Jo was born and continued to tap into the parenting and fatherhood courses offered at the pregnancy center. Cole and Zayda are committed to co-parenting.

“My parents were not together when I was a kid,” he said, “and I want her to have that (both parents).”

Cole has come a long way from thinking abortion was the only answer, that raising a child at their age could not be done, and from the denial early in Zayda’s pregnancy that Delia Jo was not who she was. Thanks, in part to the encouragement and support they received at a local pregnancy center.

We are so appreciative for the work you do to ensure that men like Cole become good fathers. We know that strong families help encourage positive relationships for years to come. Through your efforts, your mentorship, your ongoing support, you are impacting families for generations!

Women have a network of pregnancy support ready to help them choose life.

Hover over a state below to reveal how many life-affirming pregnancy help organizations there are in each state, according to Heartbeat's latest Worldwide Directory.

What is a Pregnancy Help Organization (PHO)?

Every woman deserves love and support during an unexpected pregnancy. That's why there are pregnancy help centers around the world dedicated to providing material assistance, moral support, and medical services to meet their needs.

PHOs are life-affirming non-profit service providers that provide women who have an unexpected pregnancy with alternatives to abortion. Their services often include free pregnancy tests, consultation, ultrasounds, material support; education and information on adoption and abortion; and services and referrals for ongoing pregnancy and parenting needs. There are approximately 2,750 Pregnancy Help Centers in the U.S. serving women and their families every day with a 99% satisfactory rating from clients.

Centers that additionally provide limited medical care under the supervision of a licensed Medical Director are called Pregnancy Medical Centers (PMCs). Their services include pregnancy tests and ultrasound, to prenatal care and STI/STD testing.

Pregnancy Help Organizations include many different service providers which support women wherever they are in their pregnancy journey and beyond and fall into two categories:

• Pregnancy Resource Centers (PRC) are non-profit organizations established by prolife supporters that work to assist women who have an unexpected pregnancy.
• Pregnancy Medical Centers (PMC) additionally provide limited medical care, from pregnancy tests and ultrasounds to prenatal care and STI/STD testing.

Other Pregnancy Help Services include:

• Maternity Homes – supportive housing helping pregnant women achieve stability in education, employment, finances, and prenatal care.
• Support Services – life-affirming adoption agencies, abortion recovery programs, and pregnancy support services.

How do Pregnancy Help Organizations serve women?

PHOs offer non-judgmental pregnancy consultation and support, including:

• Free pregnancy tests
• Pregnancy consultation (information about pregnancy options)
• Material resources (including diapers and formula)
• Post-decision support (parenting education, abortion recovery)
• Consultation with a licensed medical professional
• Limited ultrasound for pregnancy confirmation
• Testing for sexually transmitted infections and diseases
• Housing Referrals
• Abortion Pill Reversal

Learn More and Support PHCs

Equip yourself with the truth about pregnancy centers at PregnancyCenterTruth.com, where you will find helpful stats and evidence-based answers!

If you would like to support the vital work of Pregnancy Help Centers, you can give here!

We have the honor of working with some amazing partner organizations within the pro-life movement. From advocacy to legal aid, to lobbying to research, all of them recognize the value of pregnancy help organizations and do their part in advancing the reach so that no woman ever feels so alone or helpless that she feels abortion is her only option. 

Two organizations that have started initiatives to expand the reach of pregnancy help are Students for Life and SBA list. Through these new initiatives, each organization added a database of pregnancy help organizations in addition to state and local social services to supply women with a comprehensive list of resources when facing an unexpected pregnancy.

Standing With You (Students for Life)

Stand With You helps women find the answers they need to become a successful parent. Women can connect with real people who understand what an unexpected pregnancy feels like, people who know first-hand that peer-to-peer support can be priceless, people who empower women to choose both their child and their dreams.

Her PLAN (SBA List)

Her PLAN (Her Pregnancy and Life Assistance Network) facilitates collaboration between assistance providers and their communities to empower women and families through comprehensive medical, social, and material support. Her PLAN currently operates nationally and in four states: Georgia, Mississippi, Virginia and West Virginia.

In order to truly change the culture, we need a team of like-minded organizations to work together. We are blessed to work with all of you in this service side of the movement. We hope you appreciate these tools that our partner organizations are using in order to reach more women with the life-saving services you provide.

by Extend Web Services

As you work to save lives from abortion and empower women to make positive choices today, you may find yourself under attack. 

With the current climate surrounding the abortion debate and Roe v. Wade hanging in the balance, these attacks come as no surprise.

As our team continues to keep an eye out for what Big Abortion is doing, we've found that there has been a renewed effort lately to encourage negative reviews of pregnancy help organizations from abortion advocates. 

We've had several customers contact us for assistance in removing negative online reviews that don't reflect the experience of actual clients. After all, pregnancy centers have higher rates of customer satisfaction than Chick-fil-A.

Here are a couple of questions you may have:

What does this mean?
These reviews are nothing new or unheard of. Pro-abortionists have used negative online reviews for years in attempts to discredit pregnancy help organizations. That said, while we thought you should know about this today, there have been relatively few reviews compared to previous campaigns. 

What should be done about false negative reviews?
There are things you can do to protect your reputation online. Pregnancy help organizations like yours cannot be a bystander in the digital age of reaching women online. The same tools and resources available to you can either help or hurt you. Here are a couple of things you can do if you do encounter these attempts to discredit your work.

1. Compensate. Negative reviews are likely to happen, whether they are legitimate or fake. Regardless of their validity, the best way to minimize their adverse effect is to overwhelm them with positive reviews. Get as many positive reviews from as many legitimate sources as you possibly can. These sources can be clients, donors, volunteers, or anyone outside of your staff and board members who’ve had a positive experience with your center. These reviews should be posted in the most prominent locations online (Yelp, Google, Yahoo, Facebook).
2. Consider a removal request. If the reviews are made by people who clearly have never visited your organization, there have been instances of those reviews being removed by the platform they are on. If you find a negative review, you may be able to request its removal from the platform. If you do choose to attempt this, make sure you point out exactly why the review goes against whatever community standards or policies the platform has in place.

And remember, whether you are an Extend customer or not, we are here for you! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions or concerns about how to deal with fake reviews. 

We also want to make you aware of some helpful tools offered by Heartbeat International:

• Webinar: Identifying Fake Clients
• Webinar: Local Search & Managing Your Online Reputation
• Affiliates Only: Center Defense Toolkit

We encourage you to continue fighting the good fight everywhere your clients - and especially future clients - may be, which includes online. 

It's an honor to partner with you. Thank you for ALL you do!

Elizabeth Whitely BSN, RN

Where did you grow up and go to school?

I grew up in the farm country of Northeast, Ohio. I received my BSN from Franciscan University of Steubenville!

Share with us about your family.

I was raised in a beautiful, faith-filled Catholic family and am very close to my parents, brothers and sister. My husband, Justin and I will celebrate our first anniversary next month! We are so blessed by the love and support of both our families.

Tell us about what brought you to Heartbeat International.

I had worked as an inpatient pediatric nurse for four years and was looking for new opportunities. I heard about Heartbeat International and the Nurse Advocate position through my friend, Teresa Tholany. Having grown up in the pro-life movement, the cause of life has always been near to my heart! I could never have imagined working as a nurse for Life in such a direct and powerful way! As the doors kept opening, it became quickly apparent that this was where the Lord wanted me to be. My time at Heartbeat has been a joy and blessing!

Tell us about your experiences helping women on the APR Hotline.

Humbling is the best way I can describe it. Hearing the voices and stories of women seeking a second chance and fighting for the life of their child is truly an honor! The courage and strength of the women we serve never ceases to inspire me! It has given me a deep awareness that the choice to have an abortion is born out of very difficult, complicated and deeply personal circumstances. When a woman calls the hotline the circumstances of her life have not changed, but her heart has! I am grateful for the opportunity to witness her courage, offer hope and let her know she is not alone!

What has surprised you the most about the APR Hotline?

I was surprised by the roller-coaster ride that is APR! There are the beautiful high moments of finally being able to find a provider or seeing a text from a client stating that she delivered her healthy baby. Then there are the low moments when a client decides to continue the abortion or experiences a loss. Often these experiences are woven together as you offer words of support and sympathy to the client who lost her baby and then turn to congratulate the other client on the birth of her child.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

One of my favorite bible verses is Revelation 21:5 “Behold, I make all things new.” The best part of my work is seeing the countless ways the Lord brings newness into every situation! Whether it is the client with a successful reversal, an insincere caller or the client who experiences a loss, the Lord uses APR to not only save lives, but also to change hearts. Even the most difficult situations are an opportunity to speak the truth and share the love of Christ with our clients. We may not be able to save every baby, but each call is an opportunity to offer new life to the women we serve!

What are your favorite things to do outside of work?

Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, building a small homestead with my husband, reading good books (especially Tolkien and C.S. Lewis), baking sourdough bread and pretty much anything outside in the fresh air and sunshine!

What else would you like to share?

I would like to say thank you to all our wonderful APR providers! Your availability, skill and care for our clients never goes unnoticed. I have been inspired by the sacrifices you make, and the mountains you move to care for these women and their precious babies! May God Bless you!!