Editor’s note: Heartbeat International offered women who have been served by the Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN) to weigh in in support of the APRN if they so chose as The People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions is litigated. California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued Heartbeat, the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and globally, and RealOptions Obria Medical Clinics in September 2023 to block both organizations from “advertising Abortion Pill Reversal as safe and effective.” Heartbeat manages the APRN, a network of nearly 1,500 healthcare professionals, pregnancy centers and hospitals that administer the APR protocol.
More than 200 women signed an open letter conveying gratitude for the care they received from the Network, with more than 40 women from California signing on. Many women also sent pictures of their children.
The following is the testimony of one of those California women, Veronica (a pseudonym), who described herself as “pro-choice.”
I wish there was more than just a signature to give. There was no option on the form to say more about my experience.
I'm sure this case is being handled by great and competent lawyers, but I do wish to say more. If it is helpful to the case, please forward my testimony below.
As a woman who is prochoice, I needed the opportunity to choose something I didn’t know was possible ... the choice to have a baby, be safe, and successfully provide for a new life.
When first taking the abortion pill, I was scared and on a time limit, as I knew each day would make the process of an abortion more complicated - not to mention figuring out how to get to and from places with no car, income or support.
The people working at the abortion clinic I went to were nice and had one objective: to make it easy on the mother to make her decision.
The experience didn’t feel “for” or “against” my unborn child but instead felt robotic and lacking information, leaving me with only my own choice and understanding - not the full picture or even the full medical reality of it.
I made a choice, after three visits to Planned Parenthood, to take the pill based on my fears and my experience of lacking support.
Walking for a few hours to get home from Planned Parenthood while a simple pill was changing my hormonal chemistry to shut off support to my child, I wondered if I had made the right choice.
Later that day, I don’t know if it was the lack of progesterone that gave me clarity on the choice I really wanted, but I do know I started asking the right questions for myself.
What if I can do this?
Even if I can’t, what if this baby is meant for another home?
What did I just do?
Sure, I don’t know how I would financially take care of a child, but I don’t know how I’m going to take care of myself right now either, and ending my life is not an option I’m considering.
What have I done?
Who do I talk to?
I did not know a reversal option existed, which is crazy considering all I had known about abortion.
However, fate would have it after talking with AI and specifically asking for pro-life contacts, instead of the more informational webpages from Planned Parenthood it originally gave me, I got APR’s number for an abortion pill reversal hotline.
I called with the thought that I was just going to get someone to talk to about my regret, but I got so much more.
I got clarity on my situation and an option to stop and reverse the actions of the pill I took just hours earlier.
The person on the line was respectful and cared about me and my desire to make a different choice than what I had previously thought was my only option.
They connected me with a clinic and an appointment for the next day to get more information and take the actions needed to reverse the first abortion pill.
Every interaction with the clinic was helpful and professional.
I felt far more confident in my decision to keep my child at that point than I did when I made the decision to end the pregnancy when I took the abortion pill.
With the competence of the staff, I gained more peace in my mind and body with every moment I spent in that clinic, which led to me receiving injections of progesterone that day and a prescription for the pills needed to follow through with my desired outcome to have my baby alive and with a future ahead of them.
The clinic helped me navigate other health concerns such as STD testing, DNA test options, and general female care, as well as prenatal guidance - not to mention contact information for women’s shelters.
I didn’t have anything figured out beyond knowing I was committed to following through with the pregnancy and wanting the best for the human life growing inside me.
(Neither) Having a baby nor abortion is a guarantee of safety or health; however, all options should be given to a woman to choose for herself. That means full disclosure of medical potential outcomes, symptoms, and education on these options - not hiding them or taking them away from a woman.
Still now pregnant and due this coming August 2026, baby is alive, well, and kicking in my belly as I write this.
I’m so overjoyed that I have this tiny human in my life already and have decided to keep them and not pursue adoption.
I’ve worked hard to feel some security and structure in life. I am now in a safe living environment, I have a job, and I’m slowly buying the essentials for this babe for when they come out of the womb, as I prepare for the few months of time I will be unable to work postpartum.
Not much in a human’s life is easy, but some decisions are clearer than others. I cannot express enough how grateful I am to have been given this opportunity to make the decision I truly wanted and what was best for both baby and me.
I feel it is a great honor to have the responsibility to protect and provide for a child, however humbly that may be done - even if it is simply my presence that makes it so.
I am forever thankful to APR and every staff member I spoke with and the clinic they connected me with in that season of my life. I hope every woman who wants the opportunity I got from them gets it.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is the subject of two lawsuits brought by state AGs concerning sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal.
