Report shows remarkable growth in Heartbeat-affiliated organizations, Abortion Pill Reversal starts
Heartbeat International has released its annual Life Trends Report, showing a dramatic increase in the number of Abortion Pill Reversal starts during the past few years and the number of Heartbeat International affiliates numbering more than 3,000.
Continued increase in chemical abortions and major jump in APR
Chemical abortions now account for 54 percent of all abortions in the United States, the report says, compared with 40 percent three years ago. Heartbeat International’s Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) experienced a 173 percent increase in reversal starts since 2019, highlighting the fact that, as use of the abortion pill expands, so does the need for the reversal protocol.
“We know that women do regret this decision,” said Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and the world. “We know that 75 percent of women who reach us do so within the first 24 hours (of taking the first abortion pill). Our anecdotal understanding of this is that something is going on within them that they know it’s wrong, but they go through with it.”
On average, more than 150 women start the APR process each month, according to the 2022 Life Trends Report. A reversal ‘start’ means a woman receives a referral to a medical provider, and that health care provider determines she is a candidate for the reversal, and the woman has received a prescription for progesterone.
Additionally, more than 3,000 unborn lives have been saved thanks to Abortion Pill Reversal® (APR) since the protocol was established 10 years ago, with more than 1,091 saved in 2020.
In 2021, women from all 50 states and 65 countries contacted the APRN seeking help and services. Thirty nurses staff the hotline. Godsey said some call while in the parking lot of the abortion facility.
“We get those calls all the time,” he said. “Word is getting out more (about APR). The team is hard at work, and we’re getting better with our message and marketing. We’re excited about the positive increases.”
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Life Launch, Heartbeat affiliates, and the power of ultrasound
Twenty-eight Life Launch grants were given to pregnancy help organizations in 2021, including recipients in North Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, and South Dakota. Since 2018, 75 percent of Life Launch grantees are in U.S. counties previously without pregnancy help, therefore fulfilling a great need. Overall thus far Life Launch is responsible for an estimated brining access to pregnancy help to more than 1.9 million people, according to Heartbeat's data.
“We are very excited about the successes Life Launch has seen,” Godsey said.
Many of these new centers become medical pregnancy centers in a short amount of time, he added, providing ultrasound services, and saving more unborn lives.
An estimated 480,000+ free ultrasounds were given by affiliate centers in 2019, and nearly 389,000 women chose life for their pre-born children.
“Ultrasound is proving to be a game-changing tool,” Godsey said. “More than 2,000 pregnancy centers have ultrasound. That’s important for her to make an informed decision.”
“In an ultrasound, we’re not talking about ‘a baby,’” said Godsey. “We’re talking about ‘her baby,’ and we’re getting the chance to show her ‘her baby.’ I think that continues to make a huge difference. The fact that we offer it, and we offer it at no-cost, is a benefit that the pregnancy help community has been providing for some time now, and that’s excellent.”
The report shows there are now 3,030 Heartbeat affiliates across the world.
“It’s the first time we’ve been over 3,000,” Godsey said. “We’ve had a big growth spurt, as far as affiliation, more domestic than international, and that’s a big thing.”
In addition to materials assistance and pregnancy testing, pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) offer other programs to help women and families.
According to the Life Trends report, 71 percent of Heartbeat affiliates offer abortion recovery programs, 72 percent provide ultrasounds, 57 percent offer incentive-based programs, such as parenting classes, and 28 percent provide STD testing. In 2020, more than 1.3 million in-person client visits took place. These include PRCs with mobile units and maternity homes. Thirty-seven PRCs also administer a maternity home, and 120 operate a mobile unit, adding to their outreach.
Option Line serves PRCs and abortion-oriented women
Heartbeat’s 24/7 Option Line assists pregnancy help affiliates, particularly key during 2020 and 2021 when many centers had to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Option Line staff scheduled more than 4,100 appointments in 2021.
In that year alone, more than 308,000 life-affirming connections happened via Option Line, including nearly 161,000 phone calls, more than 9,700 text messages, and more than 91,300 chats. The Life Trends Report also showed more than 47,300 digital/self-service locators happened on the website, indicating a trend toward a self-service model where women search for answers on the website. More than 760,000 digital contacts occurred on the website in 2021, according to the report.
All these statistics highlight the importance of pregnancy help organizations.
“The beauty of Life Trends is that it reflects the health and dynamism of the pregnancy help movement,” Godsey said. “We are celebrating the whole movement.”
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“To me, this is a display of God’s will being accomplished,” he said. “That to me is exciting, and it’s a real joy to capture all of this and see collectively how we, all together, are doing.”
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News.
