COLUMBUS, OHIO, March 10, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Responding to a report released Monday by abortion advocacy group NARAL Pro-Choice America, Heartbeat International President Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., pointed to what she calls the fundamental difference between "true" and "false" reproductive health.
NARAL's report, "Crisis Pregnancy Centers Lie: The Insidious Threat To Reproductive Freedom," represents several years of opposition to the 2,500 pregnancy help organizations operating independently in the United States, most of whom are fully funded by local and private donors.
In its 24 pages, NARAL's report features 107 citations. However, 92 of those (86 percent total) come from its state and local chapters, and eight more are from Planned Parenthood's research arm, The Guttmacher Institute.
"The sole purpose of every pregnancy help organization is to provide the love and support every woman deserves in an unexpected pregnancy," Hartshorn said. "We exist to empower a woman to make the healthiest choice for all involved. That is why NARAL attacks us with these false and flimsy allegations."
Hartshorn, who attended the Diocesan Family and Life Congress in Manilla over the past weekend and trained Heartbeat International joint affiliation partners serving throughout the Philippines, pointed to the good work of pregnancy help organizations, both in the U.S. and all over the world.
She is author of Heartbeat International's top-selling volunteer training resource, The LOVE Approach—first published in 1994—which teaches a truly woman-centered approach.
"No woman should ever feel so alone, coerced, or hopeless that she ends her child's life through abortion," Hartshorn said. "That's why, in every corner of the globe, Heartbeat International affiliates and others provide all the facts about pregnancy—including the baby's development and the many serious physical and psychological dangers of abortion."
"This report is an attack on the truth and true reproductive freedom. Only a fully informed choice can be a true choice."
About Heartbeat International
Heartbeat International is the first network of pro-life pregnancy help organizations founded in the U.S. (1971), and now the largest and most expansive network in the world. With over 1,800 affiliated pregnancy help locations—including pregnancy help medical clinics (with ultrasound), resource centers, maternity homes, and adoption agencies—Heartbeat serves on all six inhabited continents to provide alternatives to abortion. For more information, see www.HeartbeatInternational.org.
About Option Line
Heartbeat also operates Option Line®, a 24/7 pregnancy helpline that has reached over 2 million women and families facing unexpected or difficult pregnancies with real-time informational services, lay counseling, and connection to area pregnancy help centers. For more information, see www.OptionLine.org