The mission of Heartbeat International is to Reach and rescue as many lives as possible through an effective network of life-affirming, global pregnancy help to renew communities for LIFE. Here's how we are working toward that mission.

Select Workshop and Keynote sessions are being made available in digital video format with the ability to view, download, and claim LAS credit for individual sessions. Orders will be assigned to the email address provided. Please allow up to two weeks after conference concludes for your order to be processed. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions.

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Whether you will be attending the Heartbeat International Conference in person or virtually, there are plenty of learning options available to you. 

You can view the full Conference Schedule, including In-Depth Day Trainings, by simply scrolling down.

Those enjoying the In-Person Experience will have the opportunity to select from the various sessions held each day. Note, Tuesday, March 29 is our In-Depth Training Day and is available by purchasing the Conference Bundle.

If you would like to see the Virtual Conference options only, under "Filter By" (located under the social icons), select "Virtual Conference."

All times listed below are in Eastern Time.

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* Trainings marked with an asterisk (*) provide continuing education nursing contact hour credit for nurses (approved by Heartbeat International). Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing. Provider Number 16061 for 1.00 contact hour for each qualifying medical workshop and 6.00 contact hours for each In-Depth Day. Medical Professionals ~ please bring your license number if applying for CEUs. **The Executive Roundtable is designed for organizations with $500,000 budgets and/or multiple locations.

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Heartbeat International celebrates decisive Supreme Court victory from Heartbeat International on Vimeo.

As of Friday, June 24, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization has been announced and overturns Roe v. Wade. Read the complete Supreme Court opinion here. 

The primary reminder for pregnancy help organizations is that our work does not change. 

Since the leak on May 2, a variety of abortion advocacy groups have reacted strongly. Some organizations have experienced an increase in threatening or harrassing phone calls, false negative online reviews, and vandalism. If you have experienced any incidents in the last month, please complete our survey here so we can pray specifically for your organization and staff, and keep a finger on the pulse of what's happening in the pregnancy help movement. (Please note, any identifying information provided will be kept confidential. Only aggregated information will be reported.) If you have security concerns of any kind, we have a resource list available here. 

Please know that as the story develops, we are continuing to update this page so you have the most recent and complete information available. The resource list below remains valuable, and will continue to grow as this news develops.

Our most recent resource for you to download, share, and advocate includes statistics, talking points, and more that is specific to your state. Get prepared to talk about Pregnancy Help in Your State.

Heartbeat International works hard to equip and prepare pregnancy help organizations with the tools they need for any situation. With the possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned, it is important that they are ready for whatever situation may come their way. To help, we're addressing the topic with podcasts, webinars, articles, and other resources designed for those working in pregnancy help to prepare.

Resources

• Online Resources - Prepare your pregnancy help organization for a post-Roe world from client services to fundraising to marketing and beyond. 
• Heartbeat International's Amicus Brief - This brief provides the individual testaments of Nikki Pinkley, Brittni Curl and Michelle Bisbee, showing how they were assisted by pregnancy help organizations as example that women do not have to choose between the life of their unborn child and taking part in society.
• Talking Points - Dobbs - These talking points cover the basic facts of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health case and answer some commonly asked questions about it's impact on pregnancy help organizations.
• Pregnancy Help in Your State - Download, share, and advocate with statistics, talking points, and more specific to your state.
• Interactive Map - An interactive map from Family Policy Alliance which breaks down of what will happen in each state if Roe is overturned.
• Responding to Oral Arguments - An academic paper by Charlotte Lozier Institute, which is a response to Justice Sotomayor's problematic statements on fetal pain during the Dobbs oral arguments.
• Protect Your Pregnancy Help Organization - Two articles on practical steps to protect your organization in preparation for increased protest activities.

Latest News

Pregnancy Help News is your source for reporting on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health. Click here to view all the latest news articles revolving around this ground-breaking case.

Content for leaders who wish to prepare their pregnancy help organizations for any conclusion to Dobbs is available here.

Podcasts

Tune in to the Pregnancy Help Podcast for information on how Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health could impact pregnancy help.Topics with pregnancy help and legal experts include:

• The SCOTUS Leak
• Dobbs 101
• Impact on States - Dobbs Part 2
• Impact on Centers - Dobbs Part 3
• Dobbs: What Happend and What's Next

Affliate Webinars

• The Results of Dobbs and the Impact on Clients
• Dobbs for Donors - Advancement Perspective
• Communications Strategy: Tools & Approaches for working with Media

By Laura Berry, MBA

Sometimes, a dose of hope and medicine is enough to set a life—or two—back in motion.

When Emily S. of Huntington, California, found out she was pregnant, at first, to her, hope looked like an abortion.

Only twenty-two years old and raising a six-year-old daughter alone, Emily saw the prospect of having another child as overwhelming, especially amid a pandemic and so much uncertainty. In fact, it felt impossible.

Little did she know, she not only had the support of her family, but also a community pregnancy help organization ready to serve her and Blessings International’s commitment to provide long before the hour of need. But she just couldn’t see it.

All she could see was a quick fix.

And so, without anyone’s knowledge, she sought out a chemical abortion.

The next day, she was having lunch with her uncle when she mentioned what she had done. All her uncle could say was, “But, Emily, why?”

“I just couldn’t do it.” So much tension had been released by simply telling someone. She could now feel the tears threatening. “I couldn’t raise another kid alone. I just couldn’t…”

In the moments that followed, as her uncle put his hand on her shoulder and promised that Emily would always have his support as well as her mom’s, everything that was lined up and ready to save a life, began to fall into place.

Picking up her phone with shaking hands, Emily found the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline and was directed to a local pregnancy center that had just received their Blessings International shipment of progesterone.

Now the only question that remained was whether there was still time.

As soon as Emily arrived at the clinic, staff members performed an ultrasound. Sure enough, the baby was alive.

There were only a couple of bottles of progesterone on the pharmacy shelf, but once in Emily’s hands, it was all that was needed. The progesterone therapy came just in time, and when Emily returned within a week, the next ultrasound showed that the baby was well and growing quickly.

Whether hope looks like a promise or a bottle of progesterone, the biggest blessings often come in small doses. Thankfully for Emily and her baby, her dose of hope came at just the right time, in just the right form.

To learn more about Blessings International and how they supply pregnancy centers across the United States with progesterone, essential medicines, prenatal vitamins, and medical supplies geared toward pregnancy centers, visit https://blessing.org/prc/ and ask about the 40% discount and free shipping.

To refer someone to the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline, visit www.abortionpillreversal.com or call 1-877-558-0333. There is a hotline with nurses available 24/7 to assist women who are seeking reversal. This team refers to more than 1,000 providers in the Abortion Pill Rescue Network, including the pregnancy center that helped this young woman, that provide hope for those seeking to reverse their chemical abortion. 

This month we are highlighting Lisa Searle, one of our Healthcare Team Managers. Lisa assists our affiliates with medical questions and oversees the Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline. Before joining the Medical Impact Team almost two years ago, she served for two years as an Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline Consultant. Lisa brings to our team 19 years of nursing experience with four of those years spent serving within her local pregnancy help center. She brings so much wisdom to our team and is always willing to offer education and assistance to advance the pregnancy help community. We count ourselves blessed to have her on the team!

Where did you grow up and go to school?

I grew up in the heart of eastern North Carolina. Goldsboro is a little town known for pigs, pickles, and planes. Goldsboro is home to the Seymour Johnson Airforce Base. Mount Olive Pickle Company is not too far from town. You will find some of the best Eastern North Carolina BBQ as you drive through headed to the coast which is only two hours away. Barton College is in Wilson, North Carolina. I attended Barton College and earned my nursing degree.

Share with us about your family.

My husband and I are celebrating 17 years of marriage this month. God has blessed us with two children, Costin, 16 years old and Asher, 9 years old. We share our home with two dogs Izzy and Sarge, our crazy kitty Petunia Butterfly, two African Dwarf Frogs, Bobby and Chunky, as well as Karen, the snail.

What was your favorite part of helping clients in the pregnancy center?

Spending time with the abortion-minded client is what I love to do.

Getting to know her, building trust to form a lasting relationship. I enjoy providing abortion education, introducing the client to her baby during her first ultrasound and guiding her down a path of life-affirming choices.

Tell us about what brought you to Heartbeat International.

While working in the pregnancy center I learned about Abortion Pill Rescue Network and was encouraged by my peers to join the team of nurse consultants. I worked as a nurse consultant for two years prior to becoming a part of the Medical Impact Team. I accepted the position of Nurse Manager with Heartbeat International in November 2019.

Tell us about your experiences sharing APR with others through presentations.

Educating the community on how to help a woman who is desperately seeking to reverse her abortion is life-changing and the impact goes beyond what we can predict. The audience is receptive and amazed at how this treatment works. Likewise, I stand in awe at what God has given us—a treatment that can give women a second chance at choice! It really is amazing.

Tell us about your experiences helping clients on the APR Hotline and now overseeing the Hotline as one of the Healthcare Team Managers.

There are currently four Healthcare Team Managers who rotate through the hotline schedule. We each oversee the hotline one week out of the month. The hotline consists of 34 nurse consultants, 3 Nurse Advocates, and a total of 42 shifts per week. The days are tough. We experience spiritual warfare, and the battles are difficult.

Our team believes in the mission of APRN. We are strong in faith and have been called to this position for such a time as this. We fight to save the lives of babies and to protect women and families from the pain of abortion. The devil attempts to deceive and divide but we stand firm that the devil will never win. Our faith in God, our leadership, and our commitment to each other get us through the toughest days. Oversight week is one of the most exhausting weeks, but it is also full of rewards. Making a difference in the lives of women, children, and families makes it worth every second.

Tell us about working on the Medical Impact Team.

Educating Pregnancy Help Organizations on how to best meet the needs of their community is important. I enjoy helping organizations develop medical policy and procedures that will allow them to be successful when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, abortion, STI, and disruption of sexual integrity within their community.

What do you enjoy most about your work?

I love educating people and I get to do it often here at Heartbeat International. Whether I am teaching the abortion-minded client about reversal or the Pregnancy Help Center about starting medical services, I am sharing useful information that can be used to make the world a little better.

What are your favorite things to do outside of work?

Visiting the beach and spending time with friends and family is great self-care for me. You can find me on the dock enjoying God’s beautiful creation.

What is something else you would like to share?

When I was 13 years old, I discovered my love for Women’s Health while volunteering as a Candy Striper in the Labor and Delivery Unit of the local hospital. As a young nursing student, I took a job in an abortion clinic because of my desire to help women and to also increase my knowledge in Gynecology. The time spent in the abortion clinic revealed a painful truth about abortion but most of all has given me an undying passion to protect the preborn and those affected by abortion. After leaving the abortion clinic, I went on to enjoy a successful career in obstetrical nursing. Prior to joining the team at Heartbeat International, I spent four years as a nurse manager of a Pregnancy Center where I was given the support I needed to begin my healing journey. I am grateful to God for his grace and mercy and for giving purpose to my past. 

With laws recently passed (TX Heartbeat Bill) and legislation pending (Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health) along with many others, we believe this is a “must-read” for Boards and Leadership teams of Pregnancy Help Clinics.

Now is the time, at the board level through the entire organization, to re-visit your Policy & Procedures (along with your Medical Director) to ensure they are inclusive of all that is necessary to empower a woman to make a life-affirming decision.

Heartbeat's Director of Medical Impact, Christa Brown BSN, RN, LAS, recently wrote the following article for our September Medical Matters publication, as first in a series that outlines techniques abortion facility staff have used to deceive women seeking information to make a pregnancy decision. As you read the article, think about timing, accessibility, and approved protocols.

Overall, boards are responsible for developing and overseeing written P&P that clarify the values of the organization, increase professionalism, improve communications, make leadership transitions more seamless, provide protection, and release the staff to be creative and productive because they know where “boundaries” are to serve clients with care and competence.

We hope this piece opens a great dialogue for your leadership team.

Read the full article "The Many Ways Abortion Providers Deceive Women #1: Fetal heartbeat and fetal heart motion"

Deception: “Your baby has no heartbeat” (read the truth)

For more help with policy and procedures, or other board matters in the midst of changing times, utilize the Heartbeat Governing Essentials manual or training, the Heartbeat Academy, or reach out to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By now, you have probably seen that Google has banned any and all advertising efforts promoting Abortion Pill Reversal. This life-saving protocol has been pulled down under a new Google policy that bans "unreliable claims." 

Unfortunately, Google is wrong. Time and again, we have seen the power of Abortion Pill Reversal in the mothers' gratitude and the babies' smiles. Statistics show thousands of lives have been saved thanks to Abortion Pill Reversal and you, those on the frontlines meeting with women and offering true choice.

Thankfully, in spite of the ads being pulled, women are still finding the APRN for help. Through sidewalk advocates, pregnancy centers, word of mouth, and organic search results, we are still seeing reversal starts! 

Women who find our Network do so out of an inherent motherly instinct to save her baby's life in a way that, sadly, Google would rather they never know about. These women find our Abortion Pill Rescue Network primarily through Google searches. More than 90% of our contacts come from online referrals - both paid and organic.

Big Tech's censorship of Abortion Pill Reversal denies women the right to try to save their pregnancies. It makes completing the chemical abortion the only option for them.  

We know the truth. Reversal works for 2 out of 3 women. While Google claims Abortion Pill Reversal is an "unreliable claim," we get to see in the flutter of the heartbeat on our ultrasound machines; the tears of happiness on the mom's face; and the relief in her voice when we get to tell her that she was able to save her baby's life. 

In fact, just this past Friday, the Charlotte Lozier Institute published a report showing the efficacy of Abortion Pill Reversal. 

Heartbeat International and our pro-life friends are working hard to fight this attack by Big Tech and will continue to do so. Every woman deserves to know the whole truth about abortion; that includes the facts about her unborn child, and the choices she can make every step of the way.

If your organization is experiencing issues having your digital ads approved, read What You Can Do Right Now About "Unreliable Claims"

Keep fighting the good fight! We're here for you.

Brent Boles, M.D.
APRN Medical Director

by Tammy Stearns, MS, RDMS, RVT, RT(R), FSDMS, LAS
Heartbeat International, Ultrasound Consultant

Pregnancy Help Medical Clinics (PHMCs) fulfill a very unique role. A role that meets the women that we serve on the front lines of chaos in the very throes of crisis. By the uniqueness of the role and the components needed to fulfill it, oftentimes it seems as if our medical side is a square peg trying to be fit in a round hole.

It doesn’t always seem like a fit.

We seem to either embrace a side that is considered too liberal or we find ourselves trying to fulfill our roles with at least one, if not two hands, tied behind our backs. This can leave us not fulfilling the part God has given us to play to the best of the abilities He has given us. Perhaps, instead of trying to fit into this world, we might embrace His equipping.

The key purpose of performing Limited Diagnostic Obstetrical Ultrasounds in PHMC is to introduce mom to her baby for the very first time. This is such a privilege, an honor. During this limited scan, we can also provide her with some vital information to help her make the critical decision she is trying to make. We can provide the approximate age of the baby, verify a beating heart, and the location of the pregnancy. A limited scan is not designed to take the place of a higher level medical ultrasound performed in hospitals, but rather a bridge to her obstetrician.

A hospital setting provides full and complete scans. And this is not an entertainment facility. PHMCs are rather a place that offers hope, encouragement, and options.

Medical clinics and hospitals, depending on where they are located, may be regulated by state and/or insurance regulations. Most of these are directly tied to reimbursement ensuring that the person performing the scan is qualified by the qualifications defined by the governing body. Even the federal laws that have been pursued to regulate ultrasound have been tied to reimbursement. Our services are free and are outside of these requirements.

Currently, some ultrasounds are performed in medical clinics and hospitals by sonographers that have cross-trained over into other areas of sonography. Some have sought additional credentials, some have not. The requirement depends on the standards set by the organization. All medical facilities have varying degrees of requirements for their personnel that perform exams. These requirements are thorough and medically complete, providing diagnostic information. Interesting to note, even the states that require licensure of sonography require that the sonographer be credentialed in sonography but do not require that the sonographer be credentialed in the area of sonography in which they are currently scanning. The requirement is the sonographer must hold one sonography credential.

Therefore, a sonographer credentialed in vascular technology can be licensed in sonography and can scan obstetrical exams. Some hospitals and clinics also permit sonographers who have completed their training, be it on the job, from a nonaccredited program or an accredited program, to scan within their facilities. Again, the requirements are completely dependent on the facility and the Medical Director.

While there is the thought of standards of care, one must look to the peer comparison of the standard being sought. PHMCs are a unique entity. PHMCs are quite different and distinct from hospitals and medical clinics that provide thorough and complete exams for diagnostic purposes as part of the patient care plan. Within these settings, there is a much different standard of care.

Who is qualified to perform ultrasounds within a Pregnancy Help Clinic is decided by each specific Medical Director.

Heartbeat International supports the idea that those who perform ultrasounds must be qualified to perform the unique exams that are offered in PHMCs. Compliance of qualifications may be demonstrated by being credentialed in sonography by one of the nationally recognized credentialing organizations of sonography to include, but not limited to, ARDMS, ARRT or CCI, demonstrates clinic competence specific to the exam and, perhaps most important of all, the LOVE Approach method of scanning. Licensed nurses and other medical professionals may also meet the qualifications by completing recommendations specific to their profession. (AWHONN has set a national recommendation for registered nurses to perform limited ultrasounds.)

The obstacles and spiritual warfare can be fierce for those imaging on the front lines of the prolife movement. Let us not unnecessarily limit ourselves where there currently is favor concerning the legal requirements defining who may perform ultrasounds by seeking to hold the Centers at higher standards than hospitals and medical clinics. Let us remember that God equips Who He calls. Always.