by Brooke Myrick BSN, RN, LAS

What a year it has already been for pregnancy help! For a work that had become familiar with years of experience for some, unfamiliarity and uncertainty have been reintroduced to us all. Since the handing down of the Dobbs decision, it seems regulations and state laws are at the forefront of many discussions. At the same time, women have access to abortion wherever they are, whenever they choose to start the abortion process. This access that we are seeing today, by crossing state lines or by simply placing an online order, has led many women to begin an abortion without having a necessary medical evaluation prior to their abortion decision. This leaves many women without the medical information that is needed to make the most informed decision. Given these day-to-day circumstances, how do nurses in pregnancy help organizations continue to best serve the women and families in our communities?

We will continue to serve as nurses in our communities with endurance, character, and hope. We continue to strive towards reaching and rescuing as many lives as possible and renewing our communities for life. We will keep serving and praying.

Through Him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.  Romans 5: 2-3

As nurses, we will continue to meet her where she is by adjusting our hours to offer appointments later in the week and later in the afternoon and evenings to be available when she is most likely to make an abortion decision. We will welcome her through confidential communication platforms and in-person visits to listen and learn from her. We will offer her open options. We will instill in her a vision for her life and proclaim her value and worth. We will extend love, care, and support to her while empowering her. She will know that she is seen, loved, and cared for.

In John 13:35 we read, by this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.

This Nurses Week, with an abundance of gratitude, we thank you for what you do as nurses in your pregnancy help organization every single day. We recognize the sacrifices you make and the hours you give. You have faith, endurance, and work hard. Your work is making a difference each and every day, one life at a time. By your love, women and families in your communities are empowered to make a life decision today and for their eternity. 

We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ….  1 Thessalonians 1: 2-3

by Ashley Vance, RN, BSN, LAS, Heartbeat International Healthcare Team Manager

The saints will throw their crowns at His feet. The angels cry out “Holy, Holy, Holy!” Every knee will bow and tongue will confess.

He sits on the most glorious throne reigning over a kingdom so magnificent the streets are gold, and our human mind can’t even begin to comprehend it.

He is the ultimate power, love, truth, and righteousness.

But where is He?

He is everywhere, and He is with every single woman regretting her abortion. Imagine seeing all of them. From the beginning of time until the very last. Every single life lost from around this fallen world—He knows them by name.

He brought them into existence, lovingly knit them together, and cares so much for every single one.

He is with the woman in the bathroom desperately trying to throw up the pill, the one searching the internet from the parking lot of the abortion clinic, and the one who can’t sleep at night heartbroken over what she’s done.

He leads them, He guides them, He gives them eyes to see and ears to hear. He shows them love, mercy, and He guides them to APRN. The rescue, the hope, the second chance, and the network that loves them too!

by Beth Diemert, Director of Affiliate Services
Heartbeat International

As Holy Week is here and Easter is fast approaching, it is a routine occurrence for me to anticipate an Easter celebration that is full of some of my favorite music. One of the songs that is always top of mind is Sandy Patty’s, Was It a Morning Like This? I know I am dating myself a bit, but it is a classic in my mind, as it depicts the scenes of resurrection morning and those who had a part in it. I love imagining those being played out and the raw emotion in it all.

“Was it a morning like this when Mary walked down from Jerusalem? And two angels stood at the tomb. Bearers of news she would hear soon.”

Those scenarios, of course, take a look back, to that glorious morning that changed everything. But this Easter season, my mind is drawn forward to the idea that all of those thousands of years ago, our heavenly Father knew what a “morning like this” would look like in 2023.

“Did the grass sing? Did the earth rejoice to feel You again?

As those who work in pregnancy help, our mornings are currently laced with the reality of a post-Roe America. Chemical abortion, angry legislators, big Abortion, determined politicians, big Pharma, censorship, false rhetoric, big Tech, vandalism, and money that follows an agenda. A lot of money.

And in the mix of all that, we as believers, called to a holy mission, consecrate ourselves, and work to be the gospel to those who are in need, in a valley of decision, desperate for truth, real help, and much love. 

So…let’s start here. That gospel, originated in the Easter story, is as relevant on a morning in 2023 as it was that first morning in Jerusalem. To deliver the hope of the world, to the ones who think they have no hope. No choice. No future.

Over and over like a trumpet underground did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!"

Jesus knew false accusations. Jesus knew persecution.  Jesus knew violation and suffering. And yet, Jesus chose to lay down his life in the greatest sacrifice of all time to bring us everlasting life. Those of us in the life movement should be beholden this Easter season, to revisit the Easter story with intentionality, and glean its power and example, to empower us, in continuing to share, and be, the gospel, in everything we say and do.

Luke 23 teaches us much to this end, but three things I want to specifically draw our attention toward:

1. Verses 28-30 – “But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!'”

Jesus was referring to what he knew was to come in the destruction they would see in Jerusalem, which would surely affect them and their next generation of children. But how interesting that Jesus would emphasize that weeping should not be for him, but for themselves, particularly using the issue of motherhood at this unprecedented time, speaking to what should be the greatest joy of motherhood becoming a great misery.

Fast forward to 2023, and where are we with this direction from Christ?  Could we ever have imagined the calamity that would come upon motherhood and do we realize this is the issue that Christ called out on his way to the cross, telling the women not to weep not for him, but for themselves, his heart breaking in anticipation of future horrific tragedy?

2. Verse 34 -The next words Jesus uttered were to ask the Father to forgive those who were mocking him, blaspheming him. “Father forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Jesus did not fight back, retaliate. His heart was for the forgiveness of those who were committing horrendous acts against Him. Their need, their deception. On a morning in 2023, do we do the same?

3. Verse 43 -The last thing Christ said before he committed his spirit to the Father, was a promise of assurance that the thief hanging next to him, the one who realized truth and knew what Jesus was bringing, asked to be remembered in the kingdom, and Jesus replied, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” No further requirements, no questions, no judgment. In 2023, do we freely extend the gospel in the same way?”

“Over and over in a never-ending round "He is risen!"

Daily in the morning, the Heartbeat team meets to pray as pregnancy help organizations are opening in times zones that span the world. We often pray that you all will experience mornings full of connection, empowerment, truth to be shared, and love to be lavished. We pray that your clients & residents will have a life-changing day. 

This Easter week as we devote ourselves to prayer, we rejoice!  For every morning (in 2023 and beyond) we have more than we need.  “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on us, because the Lord has anointed us to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent us to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…(Isaiah 61:1) The Spirit of the Living God lives with us.

On a morning like this…like a trumpet underground did the earth seem to pound "He is risen!" He is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

From all of us at Heartbeat, Blessed Easter! He has risen, he has risen indeed!

by Sara Dominguez, Heartbeat International

Did you know that April is Abortion Recovery Awareness Month? In a culture where abortion is framed as a “quick and easy” solution to a “temporary problem”, we in the pregnancy help community know that regret is a common experience after an abortion. At times, the regret can be immediate leading women who have taken the first abortion pill to call the 24/7 Abortion Pill Rescue® Network to receive help and healing with the hope of continuing her pregnancy. For others, the experience of hurt and regret may emerge years after the abortion. Regardless of whether the regret after an abortion is immediate or appears later in life, we know that there is hope for healing and recovery after the loss of abortion.

Many organizations affiliated with Heartbeat International either provide abortion recovery programs or point to abortion recovery organizations offering a wide array of opportunities for healing ranging from support groups and retreats to bible studies and one-on-one counseling.

You can explore resources related to Abortion Recovery and the amazing organizations that provide them here.

Abortion recovery resources are not only available to women, but to men as well, and we know the need for abortion recovery healing for men is ever-growing. This month on the Pregnancy Help Podcast, we were blessed to be joined by Jeff Joaquin who shares his story of healing after abortion. The amazing theme that seemed to carry throughout our conversation was about God’s mercy. At times, it can be difficult for me to wrap my mind around the perfect love that we are offered by the One who created us – a love that far surpasses my own feeble attempts at loving. But what hope can be found when we let go of our preconceived notions about the sort of love we “deserve,” and allow ourselves to receive the healing love that our Father offers to us every single day!

You can listen to Jeff Joaquin’s story here.

And so, let’s spend the month of April sharing the wonderful news that there is hope and healing after an abortion. That the God who created us and who loves us perfectly is ready to meet us right where we are to heal our broken hearts and bind up our wounds (Psalm 147: 3). We can take our time to tell our stories, whether on paper, in the confidence of a loved one, or confidentially in a small group or counseling room. There is powerful healing to be had when we step into the light of His mercy and allow Him to reveal to us how perfectly loved we are in His eyes.

by Ellen Foell, International Program Specialist
Heartbeat International

If there is one word to describe the world today it might be divided. Actually, we might even be divided about that! Some people might use the words fractured, broken, or disintegrating. The reality is, we see evidence of division all around us, politically, racially, nationally, even within individuals.

None of that sounds like good news.

But in the midst of the bad news, and the division, we see good news.

The night before Jesus was betrayed, he had a meal and a very long conversation with the disciples. The meal was familiar and traditional, a Passover meal. A meal that each of the disciples had eaten many times in their lives, filled with history, song, and prayer.

But the conversation was not so familiar. Jesus did things that disrupted the evening with hard sayings about leaving, about vines and branches, betrayal. He even said one of the friends sitting at the Passover meal would betray him. He washed everyone’s feet which shocked them and then said they would learn to wash one another’s feet as well.  

In the middle of that last conversation and meal Jesus shared with his disciples, he stopped to enter into a conversation with the Father. He did not preface the interruption with “everyone please bow your heads.” No dramatic pause for effect. He simply started praying to the Father as if the Father was a participant in the rest of the conversation, had been there all along. And, of course, He was. But the prayer Jesus prayed was not the overthrow of the Roman oppressors, nor was it for the disciples’ prosperity, or for methods to spread the message.

His prayer was pointed and focused: the unity of the disciples, both the ones present in the room, and the ones who would one day also believe because of the message carried by the ones in the room. He asked the Father, in the presence of the disciples:

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23)

This was the last major discourse with the disciples, and the last major prayer time between the Father and the Son to which they would be witnesses. Because, as we know, they slept through the next prayer time on the Mount of Olives. In this little passage, the disciples overheard Jesus talk to the Father about the who, what, how, and why of unity. We need to pay attention to the matters of unity because unity matters.

The Who

When Jesus talked to the Father about unity for the disciples, he was inclusive. He prayed beyond the eleven disciples present in the room (Judas had already left). It was a prayer for those who would believe in Jesus through the testimony and witness of the ones in the room. And any single one of us reading this as well as the billions who follow Jesus around the world, are part of the “those who will believe in me through their message.” Jesus’ prayer to the Father reached down through generations and across the globe. He prayed across time and space.

The What

Jesus interceded to the Father that all of them, all of us may be one: “Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” He wanted more than all of us being in the same room, more than gathering around the worldwide campfire and singing the same song. He prayed for oneness.

Oneness goes beyond togetherness, friendship, partnership, or collaboration.  Oneness carries with it the same meaning as used in marriage-that the two become one. Total intimacy of two still distinct individuals. As the Father and the Son and Spirit are one, Jesus asked God to make us, as Jesus followers, one, in the same way that the Father and the Son are one. The concept is already beyond our human comprehension, so he gave us an example of oneness and intimacy in relationship: just as you are in me and I am in you.

The Father and Son are so united that Jesus told Philip, “if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” Jesus wanted for us the unity the Son and the Father enjoy. That seems like an impossibility. How can we, as flawed human beings, from different races, ethnicities, geopolitical borders, with individual interests, needs, levels of income and desires enter into that kind of oneness?

The How

How on earth could Jesus pray for the impossible? As he said in another time to the disciples, with men and women, in the flesh, this is impossible, but all things are possible with God (MT 19:26). We cannot strive for unity as the world strives for it. Our unity is in the Father, Son and Spirit. Jesus asked the Father, “may they also be in us.” Our unity as Christians, and by extension, as the pregnancy help movement, must be found in, and founded in, the way of Jesus.

Thousands of years earlier, there was another great movement toward unity. It was a monumental effort of the entire world that was united by speech. In Genesis 11, people came together as one and determined to build a name for themselves by building a tower that reached to heaven. The effort failed because of pride and arrogance against God. But in that same passage we see that there is no limit to what could happen if people are united.

The problem was not that the people were united with one another. The problem was that the people were not united with God. Their unity was for the purpose of being like God (sounds like the Garden all over again).

The Why

Unity is not the end goal. Unity with the triune God has a beauty, joy and wonder all its own. But unity also has a purpose. “Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” We work for unity so that the whole rest of the world will know that the Father sent the Son out of love. It is so that all those generations since the eleven in the room with Jesus would know the lifesaving truth that Christ came into the world for sinners, to restore relationship, and for unity with the Father, even as the Father and the Son are one.

Psalm 131 says that where the brothers dwell together in unity, it is good and pleasant. Even more than that, God commands a blessing (Psalm 131:1-4). I have four children and honestly, when I see our children getting along, dwelling together in unity, I want to bless them because their unity blesses me. We want to bless our heavenly Father with our unity in the same way.

The pregnancy help movement is spread across the globe. Heartbeat International is currently serving affiliates in 90 nations. We do so in partnership and collaboration with nine different networks. Yet, approximately 30% of Heartbeat's international affiliates are not in networks. They labor sometimes as the only pregnancy help center in the nation. Some centers may be the only place for a woman in an unexpected pregnancy in a radius encompassing 2 or 3 or 4 million people.

Each center looks different. The languages are different. Some centers are urban, some rural, some are Catholic, some evangelical, some Orthodox. Pregnancy help centers hold out the word of life in peace and in war, in famine and in feasting, in sickness, through the pandemic, and in health. We are united with one another, and with the triune God.

Unity is hard. The culture of individualism and personal rights can stand against unity. Our “me” gets in the way of “we.” But if we can pray toward, work toward, and move toward unity, as the pregnancy help movement, the world will know, even as it sees us as a movement, that the Father sent the Son, that the Father loves them, even as He loves the Son. And then, the world might believe.

by Jor-El Godsey, President
Heartbeat International

Do you ever have one of those moments when you hear a little bit of current culture while reading scripture that was written two and three millennia ago?

I do.

Usually, it happens when I remember that a phrase we commonly use today actually comes to us from scripture. Such as when I hear, or speak, phrases like “the skin of my teeth” (Job), or “handwriting is on the wall” (Daniel 5).

Then there are sayings that aren’t direct phrases from scripture but lean into biblical principle(s). An overly used one in recent years is when business conversations include the phrase, “come-to-Jesus moment.” When said in these contexts they really don’t want Jesus involved (mercifully) but want to have an intense conversation with an intended course correction. Of course, ironically, this leverages the very nature of a true encounter with Jesus which should inspire confession, repentance, and an intentional move toward righteousness.

Just today, while reading through the book of Job, a phrase jumped out at me. To be clear, the phrase itself, does not have traction in our modern lexicon. Though it does rhyme with a phrase used by rockers and is similar to one made popular by some Saturday Night Live characters.

Job is in dialogue with his “friends” who come to his side in his despair at losing everything important in his life (read Job 1-2 to set the scene). His companions spend much of their dialogue suggesting Job’s problems are his own doing. As their rant goes on, Job gets more and more exasperated at them and their accusation which he is certain is not true.

One of Job’s responses reveals his frustration.

“Bear with me, and I will speak, and after I have spoken, mock on.” (Job 21:3)

“Mock on.”

Can you hear your heavy metal friend say, “Rock on?” Or Wayne and Garth with their “Party on!?”

I did when I read that scripture. (Don’t judge me!)

But what I also heard was the exasperation of my own heart.

Job cannot fathom why he’s in such dire straits and attacked, seemingly, from all sides including heaven. He had been faithful to God and was “blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” (Job 1:1, see also 1:22, 2:9-10). Those speaking to him and about him are not being helpful.

In the pregnancy help community we have been about the business God has called us to. We have been diligently laboring in the mission field created by abortion to champion the value and worth of each woman, the intrinsic sanctity of life, and the importance of God’s gift of family. And we have done this for each life we encounter without thought of compensation, but only thinking of what we know is God’s best for them.

And yet there are powerful and persistent voices that mock what we do. They fabricate scenarios intended only to defame us and our work. They invent narratives that serve their avarice and ambitions. Some of these voices likely won’t be satisfied until we, like Job, have been stripped of every good thing we have and know.

Not unlike the real antagonist in the book of Job (read Job 1) our detractors today have actively aligned themselves against God’s handiwork. That includes the good work of God that is pregnancy help. That means we can take heart with what Job eventually learns when God enters the conversation. That God’s power and sovereignty are not lessened when we encounter trials and tribulations.

Job’s closing comments inspire us with exactly what we need to remember for our current challenges. We can look to the Lord with the same confidence of Job when he says, “I know that You can do all things, And that no plan is impossible for You” (Job 42:2). Indeed, the Lord will hear us as He did Job, who said (v. 4) “Please listen, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.”

Let us take heart! The Lord will set a table full of provision before our enemy (Psalm 23). He will supply all that we need for the work He has called us to (Philippians 4:19). Our greatest success is found, first, in our faithfulness to Him.

So to our detractors, we can say, like Job, “mock on.” Knowing that our God is mindful of those who mock Him and His work (Galatians 6:7). 

by Andrea Trudden, Vice President of Communications & Marketing
Heartbeat International

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” – Romans 12:12

As we begin a new year, we begin a new era—the post-Roe world as we choose to make it.

The dust continues to settle after the Dobbs decision on June 24, and it will continue to do so. And we continue to open our doors and welcome women and families in order to serve them with the same dignity and respect we always have. Because that is what pregnancy help is. That is what we were called into this mighty mission to do.

Since May, we have seen pregnancy help organizations in the news more than ever before. Politicians make up stories and shout baseless claims against the good work provided through pregnancy centers at no cost to communities worldwide simply because it is a cause they don’t believe in. 

Major corporations proudly proclaim they will compensate employees who travel out of state to obtain an abortion, circumventing their states’ laws on the issue. 

Technology companies like Google, Facebook, and Yelp suppress or outright ban advertising of life-affirming options like Abortion Pill Reversal^TM, labeling it “misinformation” all while expanding the promotion of mail-order abortion pills. 

We have seen attacks against our work as abortion extremists spray paint, break windows, and set fire to our buildings. And we have witnessed with admiration as our brothers and sisters pick up the pieces, paint the doors, and go back to business as usual. 

The poise of the pregnancy help movement is one of class and grace. 

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” – James 1:12

God gives us reminders of His provision through times of trial. While we have been viciously attacked from various sides, we have great reasons to celebrate! 

More women contacted Option Line last year and were connected to local pregnancy help than in the past couple of years, and, as we know, the best alternative to abortion is another person offering compassionate support. We know that more than 4,000 women have now saved their babies’ lives through the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network, and more pregnancy help medical clinics are providing this life-saving service. In addition, new pregnancy help organizations are opening their doors in underserved areas, reaching women with the life-saving support they need at a very difficult time.

This is the truth. These are the facts. So, while some may not like what we do, we will not stop. The risk is too great. If not us, then who? If not now, then when? 

And so, we endure.

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance…” Romans 5:3

And while I don’t always remember to rejoice in the suffering, this year has given us many chances to rejoice! 

Think of the woman who entered your door with tear-filled eyes as she feared a pregnancy would permanently halt all her life’s plans. And how, with just a listening ear and a bit of encouragement, she left that same door confident that she could accomplish her dreams while being a good mom.

Picture the young mom who is so grateful for the parenting support she received at your building years ago that she still sends you pictures of her growing little one, in school now and getting so big!

Now, hear the sound of the mother who gasps when seeing her baby’s heartbeat for the first time as she squeezes her boyfriend’s hand tightly, accepting the love that God has blessed them with.

These moments – these women – are our “why.” They give us the strength and perseverance to press forward through any opposition because we know the work we do is righteous. 

And so we will continue to serve with class and grace in order to serve a loving God and help families within our communities thrive. 

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” – 1 Peter 5:10

by Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., Board Chair

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

As we end the 5 decades when the Roe v. Wade decision “ruled” how abortion would be dealt with in our country – both on a personal level and in our laws, society, and culture – we’d like to take this moment to look back on that Roe-world. My husband and I were witnesses of it all.

I reflect here at those fifty years and the damage left behind, but also reflect on how God has brought forth good out of the evil. Because He has, we can all Take Heart!

In hindsight, we can all see the carnage left by Roe, probably at least 50 million abortions (an average of about 1 million per year) in the US, with not only the babies as victims but also their mothers, fathers, and families, plus all those who were complicit either through participating some way in the abortion or by standing by and doing nothing. Abortion became, and still is, a big, money-making business.

The carnage spread around the world as the US exported, through the United Nations and through our popular culture, the “abortion mentality.” We funded, with our tax dollars, population control and abortion worldwide, and we still do.

However, at the same time, God’s people stepped up in every area of life in our society and worked unceasingly to fight the abortion juggernaut and “overturn Roe.” That was finally accomplished, of course, in the Dobbs decision on June 24, 2022, through the grace of God and the work of the amazingly creative “movement” that also grew and developed over these 50 years.

Just to clarify, the Roe v. Wade decision, handed down by the Supreme Court on Jan. 22, 1973, essentially said that abortion as a choice was somehow covered in a “right to privacy” (that was not written down in our Constitution). It said that abortion was “between a woman and her doctor.” It could only be regulated somewhat, but only for the woman’s health in the second trimester, and, in the third trimester it had to be allowed for the “health” of the mother. A companion decision, Doe v. Bolton, extended that to “mental health” so, essentially, abortion was legal during all 9 months of pregnancy.

At first, pro-lifers who had begun to form into groups and get involved in educational and political efforts during the 5 years prior to Roe (when activists were trying to pass laws legalizing abortion state by state) were devastated. It seemed that we could do nothing to stop abortions. The number of abortions surged, and infant adoptions (the primary choice in an unexpected pregnancy for unmarried women before Roe) dropped dramatically.

But the good news is that the pro-life movement began to develop dramatically after Roe. My husband and I joined the movement with a phone call to our local Right to Life chapter, found in the phone book, on January 22, 1973. Apparently, thousands of other people were motivated to do the same, year after year!

The first strategy proposed to “overturn Roe” was to amend the Constitution with a Human Life Amendment but that proved divisive (even with the growing pro-life movement) and never gained traction in the first two decades after Roe.

Amazingly, creative legal minds (in cities, counties, and states) also began trying to “chip away” at what was at first thought to be a “right” with no restrictions. The first effort that I remember was the Akron (Ohio) Ordinance, passed by a city council in 1978. It included parental notification, a waiting period, rules on fetal remains, and other common-sense provisions. Although it was finally declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1982, it pioneered other examples of the “incremental approach” to fighting and limiting abortions, including the 15-week limit to abortions in Mississippi (because the unborn child can feel pain then) that eventually was the basis of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that brought us into the post-Roe era.

Meanwhile, during the five decades of Roe, other “arms” or branches of the pro-life movement, developed a laser focus on many other priorities: on prayer, especially in front of abortion clinics, on civil disobedience, on regulating abortion clinics, on education – debates at first, then entire programs and curricula for schools and churches, on websites, social media, and other vehicles of popular culture -- film, music, art, literature, and more!

And I have saved the “best” (in my opinion) for last – the pregnancy help movement! The five Roe decades brought to life all of YOU reading Take Heart! You are an essential part of one of the 3,000 pregnancy help centers across our nation that are now saving thousands of babies and mothers per week from abortion, offering love and support, offering hope and healing to those who have had abortions, providing for the health and safety of new families, providing pro-life medical care on many levels, housing homeless pregnant women and helping them get “on their feet” again, providing help to trafficking victims, sharing the Gospel, linking to churches, social services, businesses, and “movers and shakers” in your community, and doing even more!!!

Between 1968 and 1973, before Roe, a couple hundred (at the most) pregnancy help centers existed in the USA, thanks to the Lord working through our pioneers – especially through Heartbeat (then called Alternatives to Abortion, founded in 1971 to link and grow this network).

The original housing services were limited (girls were housed in private homes and then small group homes). The centers were small, all volunteer, many operating out of the offices of pro-life OB/GYNs (who had to send urine test samples to laboratories and get back the results in a few days!). Some volunteers manned hotlines and met with girls and women who thought they might be pregnant on park benches and at restaurants. From these small seeds, a mighty network has grown! (Read much more about our growth over these 50 years in The Power of Pregnancy Help: The First Fifty Years)

One of the best fruits of the Roe era, in my opinion, has been the unity developed among Christians called to this work, especially among Catholics (the first to “answer the call” in the late 1960’s and 70’s) and Evangelicals (who joined the movement in massive numbers in the 1980’s). We experience it within Heartbeat and see that we are always better together!

God’s people never gave up and never gave in over the last 5 decades. Some of God’s pro-life warriors have passed into eternity already, but so many others have taken their places, and the work goes on!

Our battlefield has changed post-Roe. Once focused on a national field, we now must include all 50 states, plus our cities, counties, townships, and neighborhoods. We are back to where we were, in one sense, when the battle was raging in the states from 1968-73, right at the grassroots level.

At least one other thing has clearly changed – while pregnancy help centers have been under “attack” since the 1980’s (in the media, by local and national legislators and courts), the attacks have now become more angry and more physical, fueled by fear of the loss of a “right” to abortion and the woundedness of those who have experienced abortion or are part of Big Abortion. And in the midst of it, we should rejoice. It is our effectiveness that makes us a target, and the enemy has certainly taken notice.

So Take Heart as we continue to serve those taken in by the lie of abortion because in many ways, our work is beginning again.

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:12

by Jor-El Godsey, President
Heartbeat International

There is something beautiful about the simplicity of nativity sets that feature the Holy Family – Joseph, Mary and, of course, Jesus. While the real story is Jesus – Emmanuel, God with us – both Mary and Joseph are key individuals cast in critical roles for this most historic moment.

But I prefer the nativity sets that feature all the supporting cast surrounding the story of Jesus’ birth. With the Holy Family are the shepherds, the wise men, the angels and the animals. Each of these recognizing the wonder and miracle of God becoming man. Putting one of these in the front yard, under your Christmas tree, or on your mantel can take up quite a lot of space with all these different characters.

All those characters are part of the story. Of course, God did not need any of them to fulfill His grand mission. But He chose to select them to appear in this greatest story ever told. From the awe of the shepherds at the announcement to the humility of the kings of the east bowing before a newborn child, each reflects a part of the story that is recorded for the generations that followed. They each contributed something to the narrative that we can draw from, relate to, and apply in our lives.

In a way, our pregnancy help world has a similarly large group of supporting cast for each person we encounter that chooses life. In a sense, like the Christ Child, the children we get to see born are miracles of God that we have been invited to play a part in. Even though the Star of Bethlehem itself isn’t positioned over the births we’re involved with today, the light of Jesus illuminates the path toward life for each and every one.

We probably won’t gift frankincense or myrrh in our layettes, but we will supply key necessities for the support of the baby in those early days, weeks, and even months. And we’ll definitely throw in some swaddling stuff for good measure.

Like Mary’s yes to God, “…let it be to me according to your word...” (Luke 1:38b), we say yes to the Holy Spirit in this calling to champion life within the womb. Or we’re like Joseph who “did as the angel of the Lord commanded him,” (Matthew 1:24); we do what has been spoken to us from on high. Did Joseph really have any other options than to listen to the angel? I mean, wouldn’t you?

As nativity sets abound this special time of year, remember that you are part of the supporting cast in the story that God is writing each day in our ministries. So take heart! The joy of this particular season is with us all year long and in every family we serve and every child we see born.

by Jonathan Clemens, ThM, PA-C

We should all be familiar with the parable of the sower. It appears in all three synoptic Gospels in substantially the same form. Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8 all have the same soils in the same order. It’s often mistaught in churches, so much so that most people think it is a parable about how to be good soil. That is a culturally nonsensical interpretation: farmers didn’t change soil in the 1^st century, they made do with what was there.

As modern Americans, we look on the parable of the sower through the lens of modern scientific agriculture that reshapes the earth to conform to our farming methods, and a lens of discipleship that makes spiritual growth substantially our personal responsibility. The sower does nothing modern: he simply scatters seed, without any attempt to control where it lands. Our modern efficiency cringes to think that seed actually landed on the packed earth of a walking path: after all, couldn’t the yield per seed be increased by focusing only on the good soil?

And that is Jesus’s actual point: rather than attempting to control the casting of the seed — the Word — we are to treat it as a limitless resource, spreading it far and wide, because the less-than-universal occasions when it sinks deeply into good soil are worth every single failed evangelism effort. Every single brief conversion and quick relapse, every single heart harder than the path, every single entangled “it’s complicated” life: all the failures are eclipsed by the joy of all-too-rare abundant success.

Let's relate this to abortion pill reversal. As a prescribing practitioner, I talk to or text with any number of women, dozens so far. The parallel to the soils is frustrating. Some do not have rides to a pharmacy. Others request a prescription and change their minds. Others have neither insurance coverage nor money to pay for the progesterone. One had a rare medical condition that might have been exacerbated by progesterone, and so she politely declined to proceed. If you’re keeping score, the 64 to 68% success rate seems great, but in reality, there are plenty of things that keep women from accessing abortion pill reversal even when they have taken the initiative to call the hotline.

In speaking with another Abortion Pill Rescue Network prescriber in my state, he lamented that so few women actually picked up the prescriptions he called in. He has a point: many women desire reversal but do not follow through. They have their own tragedies to deal with, and I wish each of them had the support and access and resources to never feel the need to abort their unborn child in the first place.

So we scatter seeds. Nurses answer the phone, knowing that many of the moms who call will not proceed with reversal. I talk to the moms sent to me, again knowing that many will not follow through. Even with timely progesterone, sometimes it doesn’t work. Had it been too long since the poisoning of the abortion pill? Was the baby too young? We hypothesize factors leading to successful reversal, but certainty eludes us.

Likewise, we don’t know the impact of the lives saved; by the time these children who lived have their impact on the world, many of us will have long since retired or died. What we do know is that every life is valuable because all are made in the image of God.

He who knit each of us together inside our mothers’ wombs is faithful and true. He does not tire, nor should we who offer life to the unborn and a second chance at choice to their mothers.

And so, we continue to scatter seeds praying that the next lands in good soil, giving us a chance to help a new life thrive.