Heartbeat International is a Christian network of anti-abortion centers that seeks to eliminate abortion entirely. Heartbeat International was one of the first anti-abortion center networks in the U.S. and is now one of the world’s largest, with nearly 3,000 affiliates spreading anti-abortion misinformation across all six inhabited continents.

The network was founded in 1971 as “Alternatives to Abortion,” the same name a number of states now use for their taxpayer-funded anti-abortion programs. The organization soon expanded to become “Alternatives to Abortion International” and in 1993, became Heartbeat International, “an umbrella nonprofit that offers pregnancy centers behind-the-scenes support like legal education and staff training in exchange for membership dues.” Through this work, Heartbeat International’s goal is to “make abortion unwanted today and unthinkable for future generations” or put more plainly, to eliminate abortion entirely worldwide. Heartbeat International was one of the anti-abortion organizations that filed Amicus Briefs in support of overturning Roe v Wade.

Heartbeat International acts as a fundraising organization that then disburses funds to these service providers and also provides them with support in the forms of trainings, legal advice, and organizational development. Heartbeat International is also involved with setting up Christian anti-abortion centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies, “abortion recovery”, and social services. These trainings and educational materials are full of misinformation, flat-out lies, and offensive comments about abortions and people who seek abortion care.

CareNet, formerly the Christian Action Council, is one of the world’s largest anti-abortion organizations, seeking to end abortion through its international network of over 1,200 anti-abortion centers. CareNet works closely with other anti-abortion organizations and other anti-abortion networks to proliferate the spread of anti-abortion centers worldwide.

While Heartbeat International and CareNet are both [conservative] Christian organizations that work to set up anti-abortion centers, there are a couple of differences. In the 1970s Alternatives to Abortion International (now, Heartbeat International) described itself as “non-denominational and non-sectarian.”  When key Evangelical leaders joined the anti-abortion movement movement in the mid 1970’s, Alternatives to Abortion International supported their efforts to establish an anti-abortion organization with an explicit Evangelical statement of faith.  This new Evangelical organization was named Christian Action Council (now called Care Net). CareNet is explicitly Evangelical while Heartbeat International is a bit more inclusive to other denominations (Evangelical, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, Charismatic, and non-denominational). CareNet’s main function is setting up anti-abortion centers and getting local churches involved while Heartbeat International is also involved with setting up Christian anti-abortion centers, maternity homes, adoption agencies, “abortion recovery”, and social services.

The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) is an anti-abortion organization that provides legal counsel and defense to its over 1,400 affiliate anti-abortion centers across the U.S. NIFLA spearheaded the use of ultrasound technology in their affiliate anti-abortion centers, which they use to deceive and emotionally manipulate pregnant people into carrying their pregnancies to term. NIFLA undertook this approach in the mid-1990s, which led to the founding of their “Institute of Limited Obstetric Ultrasound” and later The Life Choice (TLC) Project, both of which equip and train anti-abortion centers with ultrasound machines and other materials to carry out their deceptive and manipulative goals. NIFLA is perhaps most known for bringing the case NIFLA v. Becerra (2018) to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Alliance Defending Freedom is one of the most influential right-wing groups in the United States. ADF legally launders discrimination behind the rhetoric of “religious freedom” to restrict the rights of marginalized people — causing it to be classified as a hate group.

Alliance Defending Freedom drafted Mississippi’s 15 week abortion ban that challenged and successfully overturned Roe v Wade in the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Supreme Court case.

Choose Life Inc was founded in 1996 in Florida as a way to fund anti-abortion centers through taxpayer money by purchasing specialty “Choose Life” license plates. According to the Guttmacher Institute, “The plates cost anywhere between $25 and $70 on top of standard fees. In some cases, money generated from their sale directly supports the activities of anti-abortion centers… Many of the states with “Choose Life” license plates explicitly prohibit organizations that offer a full range of services, including abortion counseling or referral, from receiving the funds.” The specialty plates are available in 34 states and Washington, D.C., and have raised over $28 million in those states for anti-abortion centers and Evangelical Adoption agencies and maternity homes (one state also uses these funds to repair and maintain roads).

North Carolina’s Previous Legal Battle Over “Choose Life” license plates

In 2011, the NC state legislature enacted HB 289, which authorized the issuance of a “Choose Life” license plate. However, the legislature repeatedly refused to authorize a plate that supported the countervailing position in favor of reproductive freedom. Six amendments were proposed in the legislature to authorize an additional new plate that stated either, “Trust Women. Respect Choice.” or simply “Respect Choice.” The legislature rejected all six amendments.

The ACLU filed a lawsuit. The lawsuit argued the state’s plan violated the First Amendment by creating an avenue for private speech but opening it to only one side of a contentious issue.

U.S. District Judge temporarily blocked production of the license plates before striking down the law in December 2012, writing that “the State’s offering of a Choose Life license plate in the absence of a pro-choice plate constitutes viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment.”

In 2016, the US Appeals Court ruled the NC Choose Life license plates constitutional. In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit today reversed its earlier ruling that a 2011 North Carolina law allowing specialty license plates that say “Choose Life,” but not an alternative plate with a message supporting reproductive freedom, was unconstitutional. In the ruling, the court said that North Carolina is under no obligation to offer a pro-choice plate, and it sent the case back to the district court to enter judgment for the state.

Obria, formerly known as Birth Choice, is a conglomerate of anti-abortion centers that touts its services as “women’s health” and received Title X family planning funds in 2019. In practice, however, Obria does not provide any form of birth control, prenatal care, and spouts anti-abortion views and continues to provide medically unproven, dangerous procedures.

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