In South Africa, where the Guttmacher Institute estimated one-third of all pregnancies from 2017-2019 ended in abortion, a record-setting 4000 women have reached out online to the Pregnancy Help South Africa helpline through Facebook.
Danièle Gradwell, director of her country’s Pregnancy Help Network, said, “Many South Africans use Facebook as a search engine because the lite version is free. Our page, Pregnancy Help SA, comes up when they search, and they can make contact using Messenger through Facebook.”
Launched in March 2021, the helpline is already turning lives around.
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One woman reported, “I was all alone, had no support and no one to talk to, and was considering suicide, abortion, etc., until I spoke to you guys. You helped me, listened, and gave me support through my pregnancy. I felt so much better and had the strength to go through it all. Thanks a million for everything!”
Pregnancy Help South Africa consists of a growing team of five trained “first responders” who engage with each woman who messages them. They can then refer her to a nearby pregnancy center, whenever possible. If no center is close enough, the responders can directly provide options information.
Ellen Foell, International Program Specialist for Heartbeat International, said, “What we’re seeing across Africa is young women on their smart phones all the time. And with unplanned pregnancies, they want anonymity. They want to be able to connect immediately. I'm delighted South Africans have this resource.”
Women who are seeking abortion pill reversal can also connect with services, according to Gradwell.
“Centre leaders make contact and Doctors for Life will forward them relevant information,” she said. “Doctors for Life has a database of abortion pill reversal doctors.”
Abortion pill reversal is often provided in private practices, however, placing it out of reach for many women. Meanwhile, hospitals offer pregnancy termination for free, and questionable abortion providers abound.
Gradwell told Pregnancy Help News, “My concerns about any abortion practice in South Africa is that there is little to no pre-abortion counselling offered to clients. Women go through termination with very little information.”
She noted that many illegal abortionists will sell misoprostol to women. This occurs even though the misoprostol-only protocol is well known to cause more side-effects and be less effective than the combined mifepristone-misoprostol protocol.
For the increasing number of women discovering Pregnancy Help South Africa, however, life-affirming pregnancy choices have become possible.
One of the helpline’s abortion-determined contacts said later, “Once I read their information and spoke with them for a while, I understood the pressures I was facing made me feel like I didn’t have any choice but to abort. But actually, I did have a choice. I am thankful to PHSA. [They] helped me a lot and supported me when I needed it most.”
Gradwell said, “Our hope is that as clients feel heard and supported, they will make life-giving decisions. Also, as they receive a healthy sexual choices message, this will change hearts and mindsets.”
This online ministry opportunity started as Gradwell’s dream, but she said it took Covid-19, “prayer, and the technical and practical endeavors of two enthusiastic young team members who had been involved in online coaching of pregnant clients” to turn the helpline vision into reality.
“We have already expanded from two full-time coaches to a team of five,” she said. “We also want to offer a 24-hour response. Right now, the helpline operates five days per week excluding public holidays.”
On behalf of the nation-wide Pregnancy Help Network and the more than 4000 women who have already made a life-saving connection to Pregnancy Help South Africa, Gradwell said she was “grateful to God for His direction and provision in our small but mighty network.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
