Timeline | Claims | Quotes

If you've seen openDemocracy's coverage of Heartbeat International, you may be wondering how Heartbeat would respond. The reality is, this is not the first media attack we've faced, and we've found that transparency is our best defense against these kinds of unfounded attacks. 

To that end, our president, Jor-El Godsey, responded in an open letter to our affiliates and supporters in response attack to this egregious attack . 

We've seen indication that openDemocracy plans to continue targeting our affiliates around the world going forward, and so we want you, our brothers and sisters in life and goodwill, to know the facts to be best prepared in contending with any future baseless attacks.

Regarding the group's claims, the reality is we received such little notice from them and so little detail as to what they planned to release, that it was impossible for us to look into the claims immediately. As they subsequently sent additional information, we have been able to clarify the claims, or at least what we believe to be the basis for these claims, given the limited amount of information provided.

Outright falsehoods aside, one problem with their purported investigative research into Heartbeat's affiliate centers is that many times they simply point to a region, and the claims have otherwise not been clear about what information was stated by whom, where and when. This approach, dubious at best, compromises the validity of the claims at the outset.

Most of the claims regarding the centers are rehashed from the false claims we've addressed for years in the United States. While this group and others may not like the science, it exists, and is our foundation for the information we give to women. 

Regarding the claims pertaining to Heartbeat's webinars, to be frank, this group is highly misrepresenting and/or cherry-picking information from the webinars without including any of the citations supplied that support our training. Essentially, they do not care that there are scientific studies that validate links between abortion and depression; abortion and cancer; and the negative effects abortion has on men.

Timeline

• Nov. 2018: We launched PregnancyCenterTruth.com to combat the lies and validate the good work of pregnancy centers for such a time as this
• Feb. 7, 2020: We learn of openDemocracy’s intention
• Feb. 10, 2020: Key Heartbeat Staff provided openDemocracy the information below with expectation that it would be included in their reporting
• Feb. 10, 2020: Heartbeat notifies all joint affiliate partners
• Feb. 10, 2020: openDemocracy publishes hit piece against Heartbeat pregnancy centers titled "Exclusive: Trump-linked religious ‘extremists’ target women with disinformation worldwide”
• Feb. 11, 2020: Heartbeat issues response
• Feb. 11, 2020: openDemocracy launches a "Tracking the Backlash" campaign to smear pro-life, Christian pregnancy centers worldwide
• Feb. 11, 2020: openDemocracy publishes “Revealed: US-linked anti-abortion centres ‘violating the law’ in South Africa”
• Feb. 12, 2020: openDemocracy publishes “How openDemocracy is tracking anti-abortion misinformation around the world”
• Feb. 12, 2020: openDemocracy publishes “European lawmakers demand action on anti-abortion misinformation”
• Feb. 12, 2020: openDemocracy publishes “Revealed: US-linked anti-abortion centres ‘lie’ and ‘scare women’ across Latin America”
• Feb. 13, 2020: Heartbeat emails all supporters and affiliates: Open letter denouncing Big Abortion attacks
• Feb. 13, 2020: Pregnancy Help News publishes Jor-El’s letter
• Feb. 17, 2020: openDemocracy publishes “‘You could die and turn your husband gay’. How I learned to talk women out of legal abortions”
• Feb. 19, 2020: openDemocracy is interviewed on the BBC Women’s Hour
• Feb. 24, 2020: openDemocracy publishes "Croatian MPs from nine political parties call for inquiry into 'crisis pregnancy centres'"
• Feb. 24, 2020: openDemocracy publishes "Top Ugandadn health official condemns US-linked 'pregnancy crisis centres' for opposing contraception"
• Mar. 9, 2020: openDemocracy publishes "Inside Italian public hospitals, I saw how a US-linked anti-abortion network is 'humiliating' women"

On this page, we provide a much more comprehensive view into each claim. We have reviewed the webinars they purchased, and were able to identify what they have chosen to misrepresent.  The intentionally left out citations and context are included below. 

Claims

An openDemocracy reporter listened to two of our webinars: Talking About Abortion: An Overview, and Abortion: the Basics (This one compliments another that the reporter did not view, and, in order to ensure transparency,we are happy to share access with you if you would like). 

The Talking About Abortion Overview training is designed to aid staff/volunteers in sharing important information about procedures and risks that empower the client to make an informed decision. It is not intended that staff/volunteers share all of the information with each client, but by educating staff and volunteers we ensure that they are equipped to discuss all risks, considerations, and concerns with clients.

To this end, as the training begins, the instructor states:

"With love and truth, our goal is to help the client understand abortion more fully, so that she can truly make an informed decision." 

The subsequent information shared in the training is detailed information about procedures, risks, complications, and considerations we believe women should be aware of in order to make an informed decision.

In the Abortion: the Basics, our presenter ends with the following:

"Our job is...to share accurate information with clients from a place of love and care...We let the women know the potential risks and consequences that abortion can have on their lives. Our clients have the right to choose an abortion, but they also have the right to know more fully what may be at stake in their decision." 

In regard to all the claims, at this time, we do not plan to put out multiple defense messages to refute each accusation they make. Instead, we plan to focus on the good work our pregnancy centers are doing throughout the world and the impact they have in their communities. We will continue to invest in our centers so they can be as effective as possible in creating a culture that provides compassionate help and support to women in need. In short, we’re more concerned about doing the work we’ve been called into and supporting our affiliates than combatting the unfounded and clearly biased accusations by openDemocracy.

However, we are happy to answer questions regarding their claims for our affiliates, supporters, and others who may be concerned. 

Claims that Heartbeat erroneously teaches that abortion increases women’s risks of abusing their children

• In Heartbeat’s training materials, many potential side effects connected with abortion are listed, including anger as a side effect directed at husbands/boyfriends, citing a California Survey of Medicaid Patients.
• Child abuse/neglect is listed as an associated risk. Actual narration describes it as one "Domino effect of drug and alcohol abuse"
• "Because of the things we've already been talking about following abortion...all of this, these are all factors that are closely associated with child abuse. A greater incidence of child neglect or abuse with children that they have outside of the pregnancy that was aborted their other children are more neglectful of them or abusing them."
• This is taken from a study by the Elliot Institute - Here's their footnote on the risk: 20. Benedict, et al., "Maternal Perinatal Risk Factors and Child Abuse," Child Abuse and Neglect, 9:217-224 (1985); P.G. Ney, "Relationship between Abortion and Child Abuse," Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 24:610-620, 1979; Reardon, Aborted Women - Silent No More (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1987), 129-30, describes a case of woman who beat her three year old son to death shortly after an abortion which triggered a "psychotic episode" of grief, guilt, and misplaced anger.

Suggestions that Heartbeat teaches abortion can ‘turn’ a woman’s partner gay

• In a webinar, on a slide regarding post-abortion effects on men, we mention an increased risk of relationship problems, stating couplesare more likely to divorce or separate due to an abortion.
• Closest quote: "Future relationships with women become difficult or impossible, some men experiment with homosexuality. Other forms of sexual dysfunction can surface..." The instructor then goes on to describe pornography addiction, etc. as additional forms of sexual dysfunction. There are several studies regarding abortion and sexual dysfunction. 
  • https://www.menandabortion.net/index.php/author/bradley-mattes/ 
  • https://www.menandabortion.net/index.php/resources/research/
  • This table has several resources: https://www.menandabortion.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/men_abortion_summary_table.pdf
  • https://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/shockwaves/june/men-hurting.aspx
  • 2008 - Abortion and the sexual lives of men and women: Is casual sexual behavior more appealing and more common after abortion?
  • 1999 - Sexual Dysfunction in the United States Prevalence and Predictors

Misleading advertising, including some Heartbeat affiliates that present themselves online as pro-choice support groups – or abortion providers

• There is nothing in either training accessed that indicate these claims. Our trainings on the topic highlight the importance of being honest in our advertising and ensuring online marketers working on behalf of centers are operating ethically. That being said, they could characterize any training on using keywords like "abortion information" as misleading.
• Here again, they are misunderstanding/misrepresenting what Heartbeat is: We are a non-profit federation of faith-based pregnancy resource centers, medical clinics, maternity homes and non-profit adoption agencies. Heartbeat’s affiliates must adhere to basic principles that affirm alternatives to abortion and ensure non-discrimination, but all other matters of policy and management remain under the direction of the centers’ local leadership, allowing for autonomy. 
• We are not a franchise model as they indicate in a few of their articles.

Staff at some Heartbeat affiliates offering ultrasounds without medical qualifications 

• Our training emphasizes adherence to applicable laws and defers to the medical director as the authority for any individual organization.In addition, we have recommendations for finding a medical director and what steps need to be taken to provide high-quality, effective medical care.
• From our Commitment of Care and Competence: Medical services are provided in accordance with all applicable laws, and in accordance with pertinent medical standards, under the supervision and direction of a licensed physician.   

Other applicable resources our centers have access to regarding abortion risks:

• Abortion Fallout: Breast Cancer
• Abortion: Physical Risks
• Abortion: Psychological and Emotional Risks
• Dr. Keroack's Ultrasound Statistics Study
• Post-Abortion Survivor Syndrome: Signs and Symptoms
• Thirty Studies in Five Years Show Abortion Hurts Women’s Mental Health

Quotes

The following quotes from key Heartbeat staff members were, for the most part, not included in openDemocracy's reports. When the below quotations were used by openDemocracy, they were attrbuted not to the individuals below, but to a "Heartbeat spokesperson," and were not used in their entirety.

Ellen Foell, Esq., International Specialist for Heartbeat International:

Heartbeat International stands firmly by “Our Commitment of Care and Competence" (CCC), while training continuously on it and promoting its use throughout the world, because we know that every woman deserves love and support during an unexpected pregnancy. No woman should feel alone, coerced, or so hopeless that she ends her child’s life through abortion. 

Since we work with pregnancy help organizations in more than 60 countries worldwide, we know that each country has its own abortion laws and cultural norms. 

The truth stands, no matter where you are in the world, that abortion ends the life of a developing human baby. While residents of different countries may communicate it in different ways, that is the definition of abortion.

And while different countries have their cultures and varied ways of communicating, the fact remains that abortion carries risks to women.

Cindi Boston-Bilotta, Heartbeat International Vice President:

We stand by all of our training resources designed for the pregnancy help community. “With love and truth, our goal is to help the client understand abortion more fully, so that she can truly make an informed decision,” as the presenter clearly stated at the beginning of our training cited in your report.

Women should have access to comprehensive information regarding all risks associated with any given medical procedure, no matter what that procedure might be. This is absolutely crucial to ensuring informed consent. Pregnancy centers look to scientific studies about the short and long-term effects of abortion in order to ensure that clients are empowered with facts before making a life-altering decision. (See "Additional References" document attached.)

Prior attempts to allege that pregnancy centers are remiss in the area of truth in advertising have been unsuccessful, with the pregnancy centers affirmed time and again by the courts. Heartbeat will vigorously defend the good work of our pregnancy centers and our commitment of care.

Betty McDowell, LSW, Heartbeat International Vice President:

Every woman has a right to know all the information before making an abortion decision. Denying women awareness of the emotional, psychological and physical risks that abortion can cause would be neglectful and dangerous.

Science has proven time and again that there are psychological and emotional risks for women involved with abortion, and for those providing care to women, it would be irresponsible to withhold this information.

Thank you for your patience while we reviewed openDemocracy’s claims and our training. We continue to stand behind our training and our affiliates. We hope that you continue to do the same.

You can find additional information about the good work of pregnancy help organizations at PregnancyHelpNews.com and at PregnancyCenterTruth.com. 

While still a 17-year-old high school student, Rebekah became pregnant with her first child. Determined not to become a stereotypical teenage mother, she managed to graduate early, get accepted into Sacramento State University and chose life, and parenting, for her first-born.  

During her first year of college, however, Rebekah realized she was in an unhealthy and potentially dangerous relationship. 

“I was about halfway through my freshman year of college and my relationship was physically and verbally abusive, and my young son was seeing it unfold. I knew I needed to leave,” Rebekah said. “But, right as I did, I found out I was pregnant again.”

This news was the culmination of Rebekah’s fears.“I was living with my parents,” Rebekah said. “My dad had always said, we`ve done a lot for you with your first pregnancy, so don`t ever let there be a second under my roof. Otherwise, I will kick you out.”

For the sake of her son, Eli, Rebekah began to consider her options. In her mind, there was only one—abortion. 

“I believed that having another baby would hurt my son’s life. I’d be losing my family’s support,” Rebekah said. “There goes our home, finishing college, and all of our financial, emotional, and practical support.” Though she was a Christian, “it was mind over matter—that there was no other way out and that God would just have to forgive me; after all, my heavenly father was forgiving, and my earthly father was not.”

After searching online, Rebekah learned about chemical/medication abortion and visited a clinic in Sacramento, CA. Abortion via pills is increasingly common and marketed as safe, convenient, less expensive, and easier to hide. 

“I was about six weeks pregnant and determined to start the chemical abortion that day,” Rebekah said. “I’m on the table and the tech comes in. I’d had a baby before and my ob-gyn showed me the ultrasound. This time, however, I waited for her to flip the screen. She never did. It was so strange to me that she wouldn’t let me see the monitor!” 

Rebekah caught a glimpse of the ultrasound print-out and asked if she could keep it, but was informed she would have to write a letter to the clinic’s director and pay a $35 fee. After becoming increasingly frustrated, she visited a Planned Parenthood facility in Sacramento. 

At this appointment, Planned Parenthood staff told Rebekah that although she was now seven weeks pregnant, they weren’t seeing a heartbeat and didn’t know whether it was a viable pregnancy. Because they were unable to draw blood, Rebekah was forced to return a week later and her abortion was, again, put on hold. 

The day was March 13, 2013. She walked into her final abortion appointment, and by this time, she was nearly eight weeks pregnant. 

“I’m holding the RU486 abortion pill in a cup and we’re talking about how simple it will be. I kept thinking, chemical abortions are supposed to be less invasive and less painful. My concern was that it would be easy to hide since I was living with my parents.” The clinic assured her it would be.

Deciding she had no other option, Rebekah took the first abortion pill and was sent on her way. “The clinic worker explained that the first pill would end my pregnancy. I was told the second pills were to be taken the next day, at home and over the toilet, and they would just expel my pregnancy.” “Looking back, I regret not asking how this all worked and not advocating for myself and my unborn baby more, but fear consumed me.” “I wish I had known that that first pill deprived my baby of progesterone, thus ending his life and that the second pills were used to induce labor in full-term pregnant women.”

It was a decision she instantly regretted. 

“I got into my car and thought, ‘Oh Lord, what did I just do?’ I started thinking about my son at home that I adored. I started thinking about the baby I was carrying and what that pill was doing to the baby. I started crying and praying,” Rebekah said. “It also hit me that the next day, March 14, the day I was to finish the abortion, was Eli`s first birthday. It would forever be a day I brought into this world and took another one out.”

While still sitting in the parking lot of Planned Parenthood, Rebekah googled options for reversing the abortion pill. After a seemingly fruitless search, she stumbled across AbortionPillReversal.com. 

On the site was a number, 1-877-558-0333, for women having second thoughts about taking the abortion pill. Although she felt ashamed to speak to anyone pro-life, Rebekah summoned the courage to dial the number. 

“A nurse explained to me that a new reversal-protocol had been recently released, which called for progesterone injections being put back into your body. She then told me I still had a chance of saving the baby.” 

Rebekah was referred to a doctor two hours away who was willing to give the injections a try.

“The doctor was hopeful, but it wasn’t 100 percent,” Rebekah said. “He immediately started progesterone until I hit about 13 or 14 weeks.”

Meanwhile, Rebekah’s family eventually found out and offered support she never imagined she`d receive. Her father told her, “when I threatened to kick you out, I was hoping it would scare you into not getting pregnant again. I never thought it would scare you into aborting my grandchild.” Through this experience, her mother also revealed to her that she had been forced into abortion as a teenager and that she wished she had talked to her about it when she was younger.  

Meanwhile, Rebekah was receiving multiple phone calls from Planned Parenthood wondering why she had not returned to her follow-up appointment to ensure the abortion had been completed. 

Eventually, she returned Planned Parenthood’s call to inform them of her decision to keep her child. She was told not only was her attempt to save her child likely impossible, but that if the baby lived, he would likely have severe fetal anomalies and she would put her own life at risk in the process.

“It wasn’t like I owed them any money and yet they were so angry,” Rebekah said. “I don’t know if they were so misinformed or if they were just lying.” 

Seven months later, Rebekah gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby boy named Zechariah, which means “the Lord remembers” a name she thinks is perfect for the little boy who was saved mid-abortion. He is now seven years old, healthy, and very smart. She also stayed in school and graduated from William Jessup University in 2017. Soon after, she married her husband, Kramer Hagan, and added two more children, Lydia and Jonah, to their family. Rebekah now works for Heartbeat International, where she helps women in similar situations and shares her story at events across the nation.

“Having a baby doesn’t ruin your life, it just changes it,” Rebekah said. “I’ve met so many women who regret their abortions but never met a woman who regretted having her child. Abortion is so permanent. It’s forever, and It’s going to change your life.” She went on to express, “I never imagined my life being as normal and amazing as it is now. All of this was waiting on my ‘yes’ to choosing life and ‘yes’ to following God`s plan. I am so grateful for the second chance at ‘choice’ that abortion pill reversal gave me.”

Heartbeat International’s Babies Go to Congress campaign may be one of the most powerful Pro-Life events on Capitol Hill. Just imagine your lawmakers meeting with women who chose life at our pregnancy centers! Working with our moms and the pregnancy centers, we are able to communicate with various congressional offices from both sides of the aisle. After all, who can turn away smiling mothers, with happy babies in hand, who share their stories of the love and support they found at their local pregnancy help center? 

One by one these moms will share their stories of how their local pregnancy help organization helped them through a difficult time in their life. Some with a pregnancy test, some with housing, some with ultrasound, and some with mentorship programs... each story is different but highlights the fact that once each woman entered the center, they continued the relationship with the pregnancy help organization.

Pregnancy help centers are great for America. We know this. Women know this. These centers provided resources and support when no one else did.

Meet our 2024 Babies Go to Congress moms and their babies:

View the news coverage for our 2023 Babies Go to Congress event below: 

Additional articles can be found in Townhall, the Daily Signal, CBN, and CNS News, as well as coverage in our very own Pregnancy Help News.

With your support, Heartbeat International will be able to continue sending mothers and babies to Washington, D.C. every year to make a stand for life. Will you join us?

Many of you followed along as our moms and babies made their way through the halls of Congress proclaiming the life-saving, life-changing work of pregnancy help organizations. 

Thanks to your generous support, we have been able to take more than 180 moms and babies to D.C. to nearly 400 Congressional office visits since our first trip in 2009! Every one of these moms and their babies is living proof that pregnancy centers are great for America. 

At 17 going on 18, the last thing you expect to happen to you is pregnancy. 

You see it on TV and think, “That’s never gonna be me,” or hear of a peer becoming pregnant and say, “Glad it’s not me.” 

Then it is you. 

You take the test and it’s the only test you’re hoping to fail, except you pass. So, you take another and another and another until you find yourself at the pregnancy center, Amanda’s pregnancy center (PHC of Artesia, NM) and you’re wondering what to do next. 

When I first met with Amanda, I was tired because I hadn’t slept since taking the first pregnancy test. I was scared because I was only 17 and had yet to tell a single soul, anxious because a million thoughts were running through my mind. And Amanda listened to every one of those thoughts and fears and worries. 

I didn’t want a baby; it was about to be my senior year of high school and I wanted to go to college and get started on my life first. Until I realized it wasn’t about just my life anymore. Through the help at the pregnancy center I learned my baby’s life was just as important as mine, and I learned the choice I made for my son was the most important choice I would ever make. 

I was scared, but the center helped me be confidently scared. 

I began attending their parenting classes. Yes, almost all of the women in the class had their husbands sitting next to them and yes, I was the youngest mother in the room. However, with each class I attended, I learned more and more about how I could actually take care of the little baby whose life depended on mine. 

I was scared, but I became excited. They were teaching us everything from parenting to the formation of the baby. I was learning nearly everything about being my baby’s mother and learning everything he was going through inside of me. 

The classes at the pregnancy center made me feel comfortable with having my baby and also helped me feel confident in the choices I made for my baby and my body. From the glucose test to the epidural, everything was my choice. I learned how to change a diaper, how to swaddle my baby, and how to properly breastfeed. I began feeling as if I could actually be a confident mother. 

Then the day came where my precious son was in my arms and it was at that moment that I found the definition and meaning of love. It was then I realized how amazing life was and how amazing it was to give life to him. 

Learning about my body, my child’s body, and the parenting process helped me become confident in being a mother. Then just six weeks after giving birth to my son, I was able to experience the whole process again with the pregnancy of my daughter, except this time I did not hesitate about my choice of choosing life.