How does this FDA decision affect your center, your clients and your community?

What did the US Food & Drug Administration decide last week about the abortion drug mifepristone?

Considerable changes were made to the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) safety program. These changes affect how it can be prescribed and dispensed. This decision by the FDA will affect thousands of women in the coming year.

What is the REMS and why was this placed on mifepristone?

There are over 20,000 prescription drugs approved by the FDA, there are just 74 medications deemed so dangerous to warrant a REMS restriction and one of these was mifepristone.

A Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) is a drug safety program that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can require for certain medications with serious safety concerns to help ensure the benefits of the medication outweigh its risks.

This was one last safety barrier in place for chemical abortion of a process that’s been shown to be four times more dangerous than surgical abortion.

The REMS for mifepristone was intended to minimize the significant risk of hemorrhage, retained fetal tissue, and infection – symptoms that can quickly become life-threatening for women. This was not restrictive – it was protective of the thousands of women who take this drug every year in the US.

Is mifepristone actually dangerous?

We really do not have a true picture of the dangers of mifepristone because the FDA made the decision in 2016 to stop collecting data on nonfatal adverse events related of mifepristone - instead they have only been collecting data on maternal fatalities related to the drug. Unless women actually died, they did not make note of the complications or injuries to women caused by mifepristone for more than five years. With only voluntary reporting, no one in America is systematically collecting data on the women hurt or killed by mifepristone complications. 

However, recent analysis of the Adverse Events submitted to the FDA with the REMS in place shows over 3000 women suffering with complications, of which 24 of those women died, and another 500 would have died if they had not reached emergency medical care in time. And we know that up to 7% of women will need surgical intervention after a chemical abortion.

Mifepristone causes pain and bleeding that can become perilous, but the FDA also warns women to expect nausea, weakness, fever/chills, vomiting, headache, diarrhea, and dizziness in the first day or two. Chemical abortion is quite a miserable experience for nearly all women who take these drugs, dangerous for the thousands suffering complications and can even be deadly for the most unfortunate. 

Why was the REMS altered?

The FDA said it made changes "to minimize the burden on the healthcare delivery system" and "to ensure that the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks." Sadly, the FDA has chosen to ignore the thousands of women in need of emergency care who were injured by chemical abortion and has caved to the pressures of ACOG, World Health Organization, the American Medical Association and Big Abortion.

Will chemical abortion be prescribed by telemedicine and mail order now?  

Although the FDA continues to allow in-person dispensing at a clinic or other medical setting, the FDA removed the requirement that it must be dispensed in person. This means that abortion pills can now be sent in the mail across state lines without seeing a doctor. Regrettably, telemedicine has emerged as a viable option to expand the availability of abortion. By lifting the REMS, the FDA has allowed providers in states without telehealth restrictions to dispense mifepristone without a clinic visit. There is much risk in not providing assessment for ectopic pregnancy, accurate determination of gestational age, testing and treatment for Rh- incompatibility, fully informed consent, and assessment for coercion prior to prescribing mifepristone.

Who can prescribe and dispense mifepristone?

Mifepristone must be prescribed by or under the supervision of a certified healthcare provider who meets certain qualifications. The prescriber must sign a Prescriber Agreement Form with the manufacturer and patients must still sign a "Patient Agreement Form.” When signing this form, women agree they were counseled regarding the dangers of bleeding, infection and ectopic pregnancy; the failure rate of chemical abortion (estimated by the manufacturer to be 3-7%); and what to do in the event of emergency symptoms. They also must agree to take the second drug, misoprostol, 24-48 hours later, which inappropriately seems to remove their rights to withdrawal their informed consent if they wish to continue their pregnancies. They are also provided with a letter to take to the emergency department if symptoms require urgent medical care.

Is mifepristone allowed by prescription?

Previously, mifepristone was not available by prescription at commercial pharmacies. Women couldn’t just pick it up at Walgreens or CVS; it was most frequently prescribed and dispensed at an abortion facility. The FDA is now allowing prescriptions at certified pharmacies, helping to facilitate e-prescriptions for mifepristone. This certification is between the pharmacy and the manufacturer of the abortion drug and is not regulated by the FDA.

How do we help clients considering abortion drugs?

Informed consent is the idea that patients have the right to know as much information as possible about the risks and benefits of a medical procedure and use that knowledge to decide whether they want to receive the procedure. There are many ways your center can assist women to be fully informed about their pregnancy decisions:

• Share information about the medical process she is about to undertake.
• If you need more information, Heartbeat Academy has a course called Abortion Procedures Information for Pregnancy Help Organizations
• The American Association of Prolife Obstetricians and Gynecologists offers guidance regarding counseling the abortion vulnerable patient and medical abortion. Their information is evidence-based and defends the lives of both the pregnant mother and her pre-born child.
• Life Institute has a training documentary regarding chemical abortion.
• Encourage all pregnant clients to have a scan at your center for accurate fetal heart rate and assessment of viability, location, and dating prior to making a pregnancy decision.
• Share the truth about fetal development with your client. The Endowment for Human Development has recently shared a new free tablet app for educators called the Little One Pregnancy Guide. This resource helps show parents what is going on during the developmental journey of their preborn child. You can also encourage clients to actively follow their baby's growth in the womb.
• Spend as much time as needed answering questions with families regarding the ultrasound report, fetal development, and chemical abortion as well as the help and support that is available to her as she moves forward with a pregnancy decision.

If your client has started a chemical abortion and has regret, she can learn more about reversing the effects of chemical abortion and possibly continuing her pregnancy by contacting the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network hotline 877.558.0333 or at the APR website to begin a live chat. We have a team of nurses waiting to answer questions, explain reversal, and connect her with an APRN Provider in her area.

Women deserve to know the truth; they don’t give up that right when they seek an abortion. Help is available for women who have taken the first abortion pill and experience regret. APRN offers the chance to reverse the effects of the chemical abortion pill and potentially continue their pregnancies. Statistics show that more than 2,500 babies have been saved through the APRN.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday | April 12, 2018
Contact: Jay Hobbs, Director of Communications and Marketing
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For the past 10-plus years, Dr. George Delgado has served as the face of the Abortion Pill Reversal Network, which has helped over 450 mothers rescue their babies from an in-progress chemical abortion.

 

Starting Thursday afternoon, however, the network’s 24-7 helpline and provider group is changing hands to Heartbeat International, it was announced at the final day of Heartbeat International’s 2018 Annual Conference in Anaheim, Calif.

Over 450 mothers have successfully rescued their babies—including 100 who are currently still expecting—with the life-saving Abortion Pill Reversal treatment since 2007.

“Nothing is more of an alternative to abortion than Abortion Pill Reversal,” Heartbeat International president Jor-El Godsey said. “Abortion Pill Reversal is an absolute lifeline to the very woman who needs our help most. No woman should need to finish an abortion she regrets—especially when there may be time to save her child’s life.”

In 2007, Delgado and another physician, Dr. Matthew Harrison, both utilized an FDA-approved remedy for preventing miscarriages to help women stop a chemical abortion, commonly known as the abortion pill or RU-486.

Applied up to 72 hours after a woman takes mifepristone—designed to kill a baby ahead of the second, labor-inducing pill in a chemical abortion—Abortion Pill Reversal gives a woman one last chance to choose life in a procedure that now accounts for as many as 40 percent of abortions throughout the U.S.  

Under Delgado’s leadership, the network has grown to over 400 medical practitioners, while over 3,000 women have contacted its round-the-clock helpline to speak with a licensed nurse about rescuing her child.

Until the transition Thursday, Delgado had overseen the network and call center, while heading up the research that has given rise to Abortion Pill Reversal as part of his San Diego-based family practice, Culture of Family Life Services.

Now, Delgado—who released a peer-reviewed study showing as much as a 68 percent success rate a week ago—will turn his attention to further researching the medical intervention.

Meanwhile, Heartbeat International is bringing aboard the network of medical providers—more than 50 of which are pregnancy centers—as well as the licensed nurse helpline staff who will answer calls initially fielded by Heartbeat International’s 24-7 helpline, Option Line.

Answering well over 1,000 calls, live chats, emails and text messages per day, Option Line (1-800-712-HELP, OptionLine.org) recently reached its three millionth contact since launching in 2012.

“Abortion Pill Reversal has the potential to reach many more women and save many more lives,” Delgado said. “Our goal has always been to grow Abortion Pill Reversal, and by the grace of God, we’ve found a partner in Heartbeat International. We know there are many more women who need this treatment when they change their minds, and we’re confident this transition will help more mothers find that help.”

Though over 450 mothers say they have stopped their own chemical abortion and rescued their babies through Abortion Pill Reversal—and despite a growing amount of scientific evidence and agreement from abortion advocates that it is a sound medical treatment—many abortion extremists oppose Abortion Pill Reversal on ideological grounds.

In a move that effectively robs a woman of the right to try and save her child, abortion advocates have tried unsuccessfully to seize bureaucratic levers to keep nurses from learning more about the life-saving treatment.

The constant opposition falls on deaf ears for mothers like Katrina, however. As she faced an unexpected pregnancy in her senior year of college, Katrina’s boyfriend repeatedly threatened to he would kill himself if she didn’t end their child’s life through abortion.

Reluctantly, Katrina allowed her boyfriend to drive her to an abortion business, where she took a mifepristone pill, designed to kill her baby. Miraculously, her family intervened and begged her to seek help at the pregnancy help medical clinic right next door to the abortion business.

Using Abortion Pill Reversal, Katrina was able to save her son Gabriel’s life. He turns a year old this May.

“Abortion Pill Reversal empowers a woman to choose life for herself and her baby,” Godsey said. “Every mother deserves the right to protect her own child, no matter what choices she’s made in the past. We are honored to take Abortion Pill Reversal into its next season of saving lives by putting choice back into a mother’s hands.”

About Heartbeat International 

Heartbeat International is the first network of pro-life pregnancy help organizations founded in the U.S. (1971), and the largest network in the world. With 2,500 affiliated pregnancy help locations—including pregnancy help medical clinics (with ultrasound), resource centers, maternity homes, and adoption agencies—Heartbeat serves on all six inhabited continents to provide alternatives to abortion. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday | July 28, 2015
Contact: Jay Hobbs, Director of Communications and Marketing
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COLUMBUS, OHIO – Following on the heels of two undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s involvement in what appears to be the for-profit procurement and sale of body parts from aborted babies, The Center for Medical Progress released a new video Tuesday morning, “Human Capital – Episode 1: Planned Parenthood’s Black Market in Baby Parts.”

The latest video centers around the testimony of Holly O’Donnell, identified as an “Ex-Procurement Technician for StemExpress, LLC,” the Northern California-based company whose marketing material promised Planned Parenthood affiliates “Financially Profitable” benefits of selling body parts harvested from aborted babies.

“Every life deserves to be protected,” Heartbeat International president Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., who has led the network of nearly 2,000 pregnancy help locations worldwide since 1994, said. “Aren’t we worth more than the sum of our parts? The life of a mother and her child are worth far more than an abortion facility’s bottom line. Every life deserves to be protected”

While Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider with over 327,166 abortions reported in its 2012-13 annual report, has denied selling body parts for profit—which would be a violation of federal law—Tuesday’s video provides continued evidence that the body parts harvested from aborted babies are done so with a for-profit motive.

“We were asked to procure certain tissues, like brain, liver, thymus, pancreas, heart, lungs, and pretty much anything on the fetus,” O’Donnell says in the video. “It’s basically human trafficking of fetal tissues.”

The Center for Medical Progress released its first in a series of undercover videos Tuesday, July 14, which captured Planned Parenthood’s Senior Director of Medical Services Dr. Deborah Nucatola discussing the harvesting of fetal organs, telling what she believed to be potential buyers that her national team had, “been very good at getting heart, lung, liver,” noting that abortion providers could “crush” the baby in such a way as to preserve certain body parts for resale.

Last Tuesday, July 21, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Medical Council President, Dr. Mary Gatter, was shown in a similar video, negotiating price points for the resale of harvested baby body parts while referring to her colleagues’ ability to use “a less crunchy technique” to get more intact body parts.

“Women deserve better than abortion,” Hartshorn said. “That is why pregnancy help centers, medical clinics, maternity homes and non-profit adoption agencies offer a mother all the information she needs to make the healthiest choice for everyone involved in an unexpected pregnancy.”

About Heartbeat International
Heartbeat International is the first network of pro-life pregnancy help organizations founded in the U.S. (1971), and now the largest and most expansive network in the world. With nearly 2,000 affiliated pregnancy help locations—including pregnancy help medical clinics (with ultrasound), resource centers, maternity homes, and adoption agencies—Heartbeat serves on all six inhabited continents to provide alternatives to abortion. 

“Women deserve better than abortion and the predators who profit from this deadly practice.”                                                                                               

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                               
Monday | December 15, 2014      
CONTACT: Jay Hobbs, Director of Communications & Marketing (media@HeartbeatInternational.org)

COLUMBUS, OH – Responding to breaking news over the weekend of eight additional victims coming forward against the alleged Dr. Nareshkumar Gandalal “Naresh” Patel in Oklahoma City, Heartbeat International has released the following statements:

“Women deserve better than abortion and predators who profit from this deadly practice,” Heartbeat International President Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., said. “The shared story of these eight women points to the very reason Heartbeat International’s network of pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, and non-profit adoption exist, which is to provide a pregnant mother with all the information she needs to care for herself and her family during an unexpected pregnancy. 

“Women deserve to know the whole truth. Abortion facilities—Mr. Patel’s is merely the example of the day—often leave out the truth, putting abortion profits above what’s really best for mothers and their babies.

“Our network of pregnancy help organizations offers free services because the life of a mother and her baby are worth more than an abortion facility’s bottom line,” Hartshorn said. "It is tragic, in the case of these eight women, that they were reached by a preditory practicioner in an hour of great vulnerability, rather than a life-affirming voice in a local pregnancy help organization."

Patel was arrested Tuesday, Dec. 9, on charges of “fraud for prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to patients who are not pregnant,” according to a press release issued by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt. While further investigation is ongoing, Patel’s original charges could result in a three-year jail sentence and a maximum fine of $15,000, according to the press release.

 

A message from Michaelene Fredenburg

As a Heartbeat affiliate, you regularly see clients’ pain from past abortions. You offer support or refer women to a healing group, but so many things -- including shame and fear -- may prevent them from attending.

I can certainly relate.

At 18 I had an abortion. I believed it would erase my pregnancy and allow me to move on with my life. Instead, I experienced regret and sadness. I was confused by these emotions. At first I tried to ignore them, but the emotions only grew stronger and more intrusive. I thought about talking to someone, but the desire to reach out was checked by my fear of how people might react.

What if they denied my feelings? What if they condemned me? What if they treated me differently afterward?

I seriously wondered if anyone could understand what I was going through. I also wondered if other women were experiencing similar, troubling emotions after their abortions. Or was I the only one?

Even after learning of an after-abortion healing group and realizing I wasn’t alone, I still resisted reaching out for help. My secret would be revealed if I attended a program affiliated with my church. I also wasn’t sure I wanted to heal -- suffering and punishment seemed like more appropriate consequences.

As my unresolved emotions gradually developed into unhealthy behaviors, my desperation to find help finally overcame my fear. When I shared my pain with a friend, her compassion gave me courage to reach out to the after-abortion healing program. Finally, I could grieve the loss of my child and find restoration. I was fortunate to have a friend help guide me out of my years of silent suffering.

However, many women aren’t as fortunate. As a result, after-abortion services are woefully underutilized. Although many pregnancy center clients have experienced a past abortion, only a tiny percentage of them will take advantage of the excellent resources offered through the center or by an affiliated organization.

Sue Smith, executive director of Cornerstone Women’s Resource Centers in New Jersey, related how difficult it is for clients to attend the center’s after-abortion healing group: “We lose women if they sign up for the group. It is too difficult to send them to ‘strangers’ to talk about their abortions, especially when they are already bonding with their client advocates. I began to realize that it would be best to equip each client advocate to begin the healing journey with her client.”

Sue’s search for an appropriate resource led her to the book Changed: Making Sense of Your Own or a Loved one’s Abortion Experience. “Changed is an important piece in the healing journey…it’s an excellent first step for someone who hasn’t talked about it yet. This gives the girl a starting point, and the client can stay with her client advocate.” By working through Changed one-on-one, more women will receive assistance, and it will be easier for client advocates to help those women who’d benefit from additional support to transition into an after-abortion support group or attend a healing retreat.

Lise Klassen, founding director of North Peace Pregnancy Care Centre in Canada, found Changed to be a “great start to begin your healing process. I really like how there is a combination of stories (communicates that you are not alone) and a section to write in the book as you heal (tasks of grieving).” Lise offers the book as a take-home resource. However, the client also has the option of talking through the book with center volunteers.

Lise also likes that the book is written for a wider audience -- men, women, and family members, as well as for those with or without a faith background. “The book is beautiful. I like how it is spaced out so people can read a little at a time. I hope many people will get the book.” Sue shares Lise’s enthusiasm, “We believe in it so much that three churches have purchased a total of 65 books—one church kept 20 for themselves, and the rest we are using. Each client advocate will be able to have her own copy as she works with her clients.”

I am delighted that Changed and the companion interactive website, AbortionChangesYou.com, are effectively being used as tools in after-abortion healing programs. While they in no way replace the resources and programs that are currently available, they do offer a unique place to begin the healing process for women who would otherwise continue to suffer in silence.

I invite you to browse through Changed and to visit Your Abortion Experience. 

I am very honored and excited to be working with Heartbeat International.

Michaelene Fredenburg is the creator of the Abortion Changes You® Outreach and author of Changed

 

by Susan Dammann RN LAS, Medical Specialist

Did you know most abortions are unwanted, including as much as 64 percent of U.S. abortions involving coercion? Abortion-related coercion can lead to violence, including even homicide—the leading cause of death among pregnant women.

Do you know teens are especially at risk for unwanted, coerced and forced abortions, as well as the many forms coercion can take?

Escalating pressure to abort can come from employers, husbands, parents, doctors, partners, profit-driven abortion businesses, landlords, friends and family or even trusted financial, personal, academic or religious guides, gatekeepers or authorities.

These subjects and many more are included in the peer-reviewed Special Report from the Elliot Institute, Forced Abortion in America.

This valuable resource is free to download, and is an excellent tool for educating yourself and your staff about what society commonly calls a woman’s choice, but in reality is often the un-choice.

The report contains the following information:

Why abortion is the Un-choice: 64% of women reported feeling pressured to abort. Most felt rushed or uncertain, yet 67% weren’t counseled. 79% weren’t told of available resources. 84% weren’t sufficiently informed before abortion. Pressure to abort can escalate to violence. Homicide is the leading killer of pregnant women. Clinics fail to screen for coercion. Women nearly 4 times more likely to die after abortion. Suicide rates 6 times higher after abortion. 65% of women suffer trauma symptoms after abortion.

 

 

Why abortion is the Uninformed Non-Choice: 54% were unsure of their decision, yet 67% received no counseling beforehand. 84% were inadequately counseled beforehand. 79% not told or deceived about available resources. Many were misinformed by experts about fetal development, abortion alternatives or risks. Many were denied essential personal, family, societal or economic support.

 

Why abortion is the Unsafe Choice: • Nearly 80% of abortions take place in non-hospital facilities, ill-equipped for emergency care. • 31% had health complications afterwards. • 65% suffer multiple symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. • 65% higher risk of clinical depression. • 10% have immediate complications, some are life-threatening. • 3.5x higher risk of death from all causes. • Suicide rates are 6 times higher if women abort vs. giving birth.

 

This is just a sampling of the information contained in this report, complete with many documented case reports. As clients come into our centers looking for our help, it is critically important to educate our staff about what is happening to so many women who find themselves in an unexpected pregnancy.

Equipped with this information, your staff can be vigilant to listen for and explore any indications the client may give, suggesting she may be in a situation involving potential or real violence and coercion.

A woman dealing with both an unexpected pregnancy and coercion-related issues may be frightened to verbalize the threats she is experiencing so we must pray for God’s discernment as we meet with our clients, while developing screening skills to identify potential abuse victims, as well as policies and procedures for intervention when a case of abuse is identified.

Statistics above compiled April 2014.

by Mary Peterson, Housing Consultant

I recently had the opportunity to share dinner with Michaelene Fredenburg, creator of AbortionChangesYou.com. While our conversation covered a wide range of topics, it was filled with insights about grief, loss, and the healing journey.

Here's a few that have implications for maternity homes:

1. Language matters.

In Michealene's experience, she has found the term reproductive loss and grief  to find more resonance with a widespread audience than would other terms we commonly use with clients. By using reproductive loss and grief to describe the suffering of abortion, people intuitively understand that the loss resembles the pain associated with miscarriage, stillbirth, and infertility.

"When I am talking to therapists and other health professionals from a variety of backgrounds and belief systems,” Michaelene said. “I have seen the light blub go off as they make the connection between the grief of miscarriage—which is commonly acknowledged—and the loss of abortion."

Resources from Abortion Changes You Changed: Making Sense of Your Own or a Loved One’s Abortion Experience By conveying the real experiences of real people, Changed teaches providers to sensitively and compassionately communicate with others about abortion as well as offering interactive suggestions for those affected by abortion to begin the healing process.

Grief & Abortion: Creating a Safe Place to Heal Grief & Abortion introduces abortion in the context of human grief and loss. It is a guide for counselors and leaders who walk with clients on their healing journey and is a natural companion to Changed.

2. Every person's journey of healing is different.

The experience of a woman who is grieving in the days following an abortion varies significantly from the grief of an abortion carried in secret for 15 years. The models of healing programs vary accordingly, often having been developed to address the needs that were becoming evident.

Because of the pro-life movement’s awareness of this dynamic over the years, those affected by abortion can choose between a variety of wonderful programs with different formats, models of healing and philosophical foundations.

Our role in the maternity home setting is to help a woman find the most meaningful program or method in her particular stage of grief.

3. Healing can't be coerced or forced.

Representing a time of safety and community, the context of the maternity home may be an ideal environment for entering into deep healing work. But, a woman must have the freedom to face her grief according to her own timeline.

To prevent adding additional trauma, our role should always be information and invitation.

Resources such as AbortionChangesYou.com use a self-directed approach with online tools and a moderated sharing format to give women from various backgrounds an opportunity to begin exploring their grief.

Resources like these can often bridge the gap between unacknowledged grief and the road to healing, which, we know, often takes place within the setting of a maternity home.

“At Abortion Changes You, we understand ourselves as a gateway, or a starting place," Michaelene said.

 

 

 

 

Suggested Action Items:

Since the process of healing from reproductive loss and grief is at the same time essential and unique for each woman, here are some helpful tips to use in your maternity home ministry, starting today.

• Hang a sign near the house computer, inviting the mothers to check out AbortionChangesYou.com.
  
  
• Check in with your counselors about how they assess grief and loss. Do they include abortion? Do they include other reproductive losses?
  
  
• Revisit the language of your program in regards to abortion recovery—a.k.a. reproductive loss and grief. Is it time to consider new language?
  
  
• Have a volunteer create or update the list of resources available in your area to support healing for reproductive loss and grief.

For more information about Abortion Changes You, visit www.AbortionChangesYou.com or www.CreatingASafeplace.com.

 

At Silent Voices, we know all days are precious, but today was a very special day for all of us to celebrate.

Thirteen years ago, a woman came into the office seeking abortion. She was in deep pain. Hurt and at the crossroads. Her husband had abandoned her for another woman, leaving her with a pregnancy and four other children to take care of.

Now, with a fifth child in the womb, she saw only reasons to terminate her pregnancy. Besides that, she had no funds for rent or to send her kids to school. She was afraid to go through all these issues alone, without a husband. There seemed no way for her to survive, especially with one more mouth to feed.

Her mind was just abortion.

The woman was counseled, but still she left being abortion minded.

September 21, 2012, the woman called my number and asked if Silent Voices still existed. I told her we are still there and our offices are now at 33 Nsombo Street. She then said, “I would like to come to the office, and I am coming with my 12-year-old daughter who was saved in that same Center.”

She also said, “For many years, I have been talking to my daughter about that place, and I promised her that one day I would take her to meet her spiritual mom.”

Seven days later, the woman came in with a special gift—her daughter that was saved 13 years ago. Her daughter is named “Precious.” We all broke into tears of joy, danced and sang songs of joy.

“I am so thankful for you all and Silent Voices,” the woman said. “When I came, I was in deep pain because I lost my husband for another woman, and I felt I had no choice but to abort this child. Even though I had decided on abortion during counseling, I immediately went back home and meditated on the conversation, and decided to keep this baby. Today I am very proud about Precious and all my children, and I have managed to educate them through my struggles. I am doing business, even though it’s not easy, I can say I am happy I gave LIFE to Precious.”

Precious is in seventh grade now and she is about to write her seventh-grade exams. She is very good at speaking English and she is a leader at the church youth group. She told us she likes reading and going to church.

Precious’ mother is still single and very much committed to taking care of her children. Thank you so much, faithful friends and partners, for standing with us in many ways. Because of you, today we are able to witness God's faithfulness through the LIFE He brought to the Center today.

Your prayers and support are highly valued, be blessed always and rejoice with us always.

Continue to pray for both Precious and her mother as they work hard to pull through in life. Precious has five years to go before she finishes 12th grade and goes into college. Kindly pray with her.

---

This letter was originally sent to friends and donors by Barbara Mwanza, Executive Director of Silent Voices Zambia, one of over 300 non-U.S. Heartbeat International affiliates. It has been adapted for use at HeartbeatServices.org. 

Book by Janet Morana

Review by Jay Hobbs, Communications Assistant

From forward—written by the brilliant Fr. Frank Pavone—to conclusion, Janet Morana’s Recall Abortion makes a compelling case that now is the time to take the “failed product” of abortion off the proverbial shelves of American life.

Janet, who serves as Executive Director of Priests for Life and is the Co-Founder of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, leads off chapter two with an especially gripping statement:

Abortion is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated against women, and those who profit from abortion are the snake oil salesman of our time. This statement may strike some as sensationalism, but I assure you it is not. The evidence in this book will show that it is no exaggeration. (pg. 15)

Indeed, the evidence Recall Abortion presents supports Janet’s claim, and then some. After summarizing several cases of women who have endured (in some cases permanent and chronic) physical complications stemming from abortion, Janet wraps up chapter two with a compelling comparison of recalled American products, ranging from 1978 Ford Pintos to 2000 Firestone tires.

What is expertly implied throughout is made explicit to end this foundational chapter:

Think back to the heartbreaking stories of the women who have testified on Silent No More. Think back to the testimonies of former abortion doctors. Abortion kills babies. And it harms women, physically, psychologically, and emotionally. Isn’t it time to rethink our abortion policy? Isn’t it time to recall abortion?

Another excellent feature of this book—which makes it a good “loaner” or gift to your friends, family, and church leadership—is its weaving in and out of the firsthand accounts of women (and men!) who have been deeply damaged by past abortion.

If one and four women will submit to an abortion by age 45, as Planned Parenthood research arm Guttmacher Institute estimates, then those on the fringes of the prolife movement—your pastor, minister, priest, or friendly theology student—somehow need to be brought into contact with these real women and men. Recall Abortion l is a great place for these friends to start.

Recall Abortion does an excellent job of replacing numbers with faces, pie charts with stories. But its reach doesn’t end there. It also tackles the so-called “hard cases,” including abortion in the cases of rape and incest, fetal deformalities, and the life of a mother.

Pick up a copy or five—or 10—and spread the word that now is the time to recall abortion.

Book by Sheila M. Luck
Review by April Ponto

At 17 years old, with no hope or help, Sheila M. Luck chose to abort her unborn child in the face of an unexpected pregnancy. She traces her story of abortion, from loss to healing, in My Baby’s Feet: Choice, Death, and the Aftermath.

For years, Luck denied the humanity and personhood of her aborted child to justify what she believed to have been the right decision for her pregnancy. However, as time passed, she came face-to-face with the truth of her situation, which led her to expose the truth of her previous abortion to her children, husband, and family members.  

This book is a beautiful and true account of the author’s journey from death to life. She opens her heart to readers so that they may walk in the light of Christ, even as she has.

Each chapter is ensconced in the truth, freedom, and restorative work of God, revealed through Scripture and woven together in a remarkable narrative of Christ’s redemptive work through His suffering, death, and resurrection.

This is not merely a book written for women who have experienced the pain and loss of abortion, but it is for men and women alike who are interested in women’s reproductive choices.

Note: Sheila M. Luck will be leading a workshop, Grapple with Guilt, Shed the Shame, at the 2013 Heartbeat International Annual Conference April 3-5 in Dallas, Texas.