Considering Our Mission during the COVID-19 Pandemic

We understand your concerns for staff and clients during this time of uncertainty during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and want you to know that Heartbeat International is praying for each of you, your clients, and all who support your centers. Because this is an ever-changing situation, we are also watching the global resources we have available through the government and would recommend centers do the same: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.gov), and the World Health Organization (WHO.int).

In addition, centers should have or create policy for infection prevention and hand-washing. For more information about what should be included in those policies, the OSHA COVID-19 website is helpful.

Clients may ask "If I have the virus or if I’ve been exposed should I get an abortion?" 

During this challenging time, we remember our mission and the opportunity to serve women in the valley of decision. We have seen messaging that reveals that more women might be inclined to choose chemical abortion during this time. Centers should be prepared to educate women with information about the abortion pill and abortion pill reversal. An excellent course that explains abortion procedures during all nine months of pregnancy is Abortion Procedures Information for Pregnancy Help Organizations.

It’s important to know that to date there has been no evidence of transmission from mom to baby in-utero. Babies are remaining healthy even if mom has been diagnosed with COVID-19. Also, women are encouraged to continue to breastfeed even while infected with precautions to keep baby safe (see article).

We continue to pray for our friends worldwide affected by the Coronavirus. This is an interesting time in our world, and a time to join together in prayer for peace, healing and provision. If you have questions, we are here to help; OptionLine is here to take the calls of your clients off-hours if needed, and the APRN Hotline is here to assist women who have started a chemical abortion and are looking for options. 

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The information in this article is accurate as of its publication date (March 18, 2020). We are working to keep our articles up-to-date as changes surrounding COVID-19 occur, and we encourage everyone to check the CDC, WHO and their local authorities as the situation is ever-evolving.