Pro Life -Hayley's Story: Misinformed and Pressured to Abort

How pregnancy centers offer support for women feeling pressured to abort

By Katie Doryland

When Hayley* called Elizabeth’s Hope PRC in Chillicothe, OH, she was barely able to speak to the center’s client advocate, Beth. She was scared and stressed out.

“I already have a baby at home and now I am pregnant again,” she told Beth. “My boyfriend is so angry and has already told me I need to ‘take care of it.'”

Though she knew abortion was wrong, Hayley felt she had no other options.

“She believed the heartbeat didn’t start until after six weeks,” Beth said. “So as long as she was under eight weeks, she believed [abortion] would be ok.”

Hayley had been previously misinformed on gestational development and believed that the baby was a “blob” until eight weeks of development.

Hearing the Heartbeat

Beth was able to schedule a pregnancy test and ultrasound for Haley the next day. After receiving a positive test, Hayley began to open up more to Beth. She revealed that her relationship with her boyfriend was not healthy and that if she were to choose life for her baby, she would be parenting alone.

“Hayley mention again that she hoped the ‘blob’ was only six or eight weeks along so that it would be ok for her to terminate the pregnancy,” Beth said. “That’s when I told her that the heartbeat typically begins 21 days after conception.”

Shocked, Haley began to cry when she saw her baby on the ultrasound and heard the strong heartbeat.

“You’re six weeks pregnant,” Beth told her.

“Why would people lie to me about this being just a blog with no heartbeat?” Hayley asked.

Hayley knew at that moment she would choose life for her baby. Beth assured her she would not be alone and helped her get information on some of the parenting programs offered by Elizabeth’s Hope.

Hayley knew it wouldn’t be easy, but Beth helped her get what she needed to prepare for her new baby. Pregnancy centers like Elizabeth’s Hope work hard daily to educate women about their pregnancy and fetal development so they have all the information they need to make informed decisions.

Read more stories of how PRCs help women pressured to abort here.

DEAR READER

We hope this article enlightened and inspired you to stand up for life.

Despite the overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortions are still prevalent in our nation. As a response to the overturning, the media: from the news to entertainment sources to even political figures and celebrities, have pushed abortion as an ongoing agenda, shaping the way this generation thinks and acts. Misinformation is being spread every day, and people are sadly believing the lies.

Our articles and stories aim to tell one thing: the truth.

We know that it is both a blessing and a challenge to understand the reality of abortion, because knowledge incites belief, and belief incites action. But we’re in this together. We believe that we can make abortion unthinkable.

With your support, we look forward to a future where young women are empowered to fight for their own rights: a right to bring life into the world, to be fearless leaders, to be examples of hope, strength, and undeterred resilience. We look forward to a future where life can happen.

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We aim to create a culture that views “pro-life” as equivalent to having empathy and compassion, providing holistic care (before and beyond pregnancy) and education, and most importantly, choosing to speak and act in love. We are pro-life, pro-love, pro-woman, pro-solution.

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