As the federal government mandates insurance coverage for contraceptives, including abortion-causing drugs, and promulgates additional rules for implementing Obamacare, Americans may be forced to pay for the heinous practice of abortion. Heartbeat International was on Capitol Hill recently leading moms who want to advance pro-child policies at the national level.
These moms are former clients of Heartbeat’s pregnancy help organizations who, when given the help they needed, each chose life for her child.
Central planners or those opposed to women having children in unstable economic situations, embrace abortion and abortifacients as a way of limiting the non-taxpaying population in a nationalized healthcare program. Often referred to as “family planning,” abortion is abhorrent to the majority of Americans. When hard working taxpayers are forced to pay for abortion, most will face a moral dilemma as distressing as being asked to assist in aborting a child.
While the most pro-abortion administration in the history of the United States promotes taxpayer sponsored abortion and mandates anti-child policies, because it’s cheaper to not have children, Heartbeat has a heightened responsibility to clarify for U.S. lawmakers the importance of alternatives to abortion. In fact, the only way to ensure that a woman is not coerced or forced into aborting her baby is to make sure there are always nonprofit pregnancy help organizations and that women know how to find them.
For more than 40 years, Heartbeat’s pregnancy help network has been providing emotional support and practical resources to women who have faced untimely pregnancies. On July 19, pregnancy center clients who refused to sacrifice their children, often despite pressure to abort, joined Heartbeat International President Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D. in our nation’s capital to publicly proclaim their gratitude for the life-saving work of pregnancy centers.
These women are thrilled to have an opportunity to tell their stories to national leaders. Courageous moms like Jessica Gore, who was excited to bring her eight-year-old daughter to meet her elected officials, testified to the fact that pregnancy help organizations provide a life-changing experience.
“I went to the sonogram appointment at Burleson Pregnancy Aid Center even though I had already been to Planned Parenthood and thought that abortion was right for me,” said Jessica from Burleson, Texas. “But when I looked at the sonogram screen, I knew that I had been lied to. What I saw on the screen was not a ‘piece of tissue’ like Planned Parenthood had told me. The tiny flicker of light, a heartbeat, was my child. I was instantly in love.”
“I would have been lost without the guidance of the Pregnancy Aid Center,” said Jessica. “Through their programs I learned how to care for my infant daughter. I would not be the person I am today if it hadn’t been for the caring people of the Burleson Pregnancy Aid Center and the experiences I’ve had there. Without them, my daughter would not be alive and I cannot imagine my life without her.”
Shelly Louis, of Durant, Oklahoma, is another mom who took the opportunity to let congress know that pregnancy help centers are good for women.
“Unmarried, financially insecure, and six weeks pregnant with my third child…abortion was a very real option for me,” said Shelly. “Since I was receiving no assistance from the baby’s father and he was encouraging me to terminate the pregnancy, I chose to seek an abortion.”
But Shelly quickly discovered she couldn’t go through with it. After an emotional breakdown, a teacher told her about the Pregnancy Center of Bryan County.
“Only because of their encouragement and compassion was I able to think clearly about my options and make the right choice to protect the life of my unborn child. My arrangements to visit the abortion clinic were cancelled and Kiree’s life was saved,” said Shelly.
“The support of the Pregnancy Center did not stop there. During my entire pregnancy, I attended weekly lessons, which taught me numerous things about the prenatal process and how to care for Kiree after she was born. By attending these lessons, I earned Mommy Money, which I used to ‘purchase’ clothes, shoes, blankets, diapers, and wipes in the on-site Mommy Market,” said Shelly.
Like these courageous moms, voters need to remind policy makers that abortion is not healthcare.
Forcing pro-life citizens to pay for abortions, or abortion-causing drugs, goes against our American tradition. It was Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States, who said, “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”
CLICK LIKE IF YOU’RE PRO-LIFE!
You can call for the repeal of Obamacare by contacting your elected officials over the phone, in a letter, or in an email. If your representative supports taxpayer funded abortion, you can vote them out of office on November 6th.
Please join with us in encouraging elected officials to advance pro-child policies that begin with promoting the life-saving work of pregnancy help organizations so that Heartbeat International’s compassionate network can empower even more women to welcome the next generation.
To find your nearest pregnancy help organization, simply visit Heartbeat’s OptionLine.org.
LifeNews Note: Virginia Cline is the Director of Public Relations & Public Policy for Heartbeat International.
