St. Louis, MO (LifeNews.com) -- More than 600 leaders of pregnancy centers across the country are preparing for the 36th annual Heartbeat International conference to help each other do a better job of promoting abortion alternatives. Crisis pregnancy centers are credited, along with pro-life laws, with reducing abortion levels in most states.

Some states such as Wisconsin, have seen their abortion levels drops to their lowest point since abortion became legal after the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe decision.

Leaders like Heartbeat International president Peggy Hartshorn want to provide resources and assistance at the conference this week that will continue that downward trend.

"Faced with a sex-driven culture that promotes instant gratification rather than true relationships, we are called to provide alternatives that protect women's health, defend the defenseless, and preserve the family," she told LifeNews.com in a statement.

The event coincides with the 150th anniversary of the Dred Scott decision and points to the growing focus pregnancy centers are placing on reaching women in urban communities.

The conference will be held in St. Louis at the Adams Mark Hotel, located next to the historic St. Louis Courthouse.

War. Lynne Jackson, the great-great granddaughter of Dred and Harriet, has been invited to participate in the pregnancy center gathering.

"We are grateful for Lynne's voice against the landmark abortion decision; she is a great testimony to the spirit of truth and to the most important of all civil rights, the right to life," Hartshorn said.

Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a new Heartbeat board member, will also participate.

"The forces that have plagued the ‘beloved community' of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. are still at work," King said in a statement to LifeNews.com. "The good news is we are winning. As the heartbeat of America turns back toward the well-being of our weakest members, the pre-born babies, we can truly begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel."

About 37 percent of abortions are performed on African-American women, though they make up only 12 percent of the population.

Founded in 1971, Heartbeat International is an interdenominational Christian association of more than 1,000 pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, non-profit adoption agencies, and medical clinics in 47 states and 37 countries.

Related web sites:
Heartbeat International - http://www.heartbeatinternational.org