The Chief Marketing Officer for RealOptions Obria Medical Clinics felt as though she was walking into the lion’s den when she took the stand in the first Abortion Pill Reversal court case to reach trial in the United States. But the Lord assured her He was with her, she said.
“And ultimately,” Donna Hecke said, “my judge is Christ.”
“My heart was very convicted for the moms and the babies that we have had the honor and privilege to serve,” Hecke said. “And that was my main motivation for wanting to be a part of that.”
Hecke is responsible for all of RealOptions marketing communications, whether for patients or supporters. One aspect of The People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions involves RealOptions’ marketing practices and California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s allegation that Heartbeat and RealOptions are deceiving women about Abortion Pill Reversal.
Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) is a newer application of a treatment used since the 1950s to prevent miscarriage. It involves prescribing bioidentical progesterone to counter the effects of mifepristone, the first of two drugs in a chemical abortion. Mifepristone works by blocking progesterone, the natural hormone in a pregnancy woman’s system necessary to sustain pregnancy.
Heartbeat is the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and globally and manages the Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN), a network of nearly 1,500 healthcare professionals, pregnancy centers, and hospitals worldwide that administer the APR protocol. RealOptions, a network of faith-based medical clinics that provides both men’s and women’s health services through four licensed medical clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area, is a Heartbeat affiliate and a member of the APRN.
Statistics show that to date more than 8,000 lives and counting have been saved thanks to Abortion Pill Reversal.
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After six weeks of trial ending September 17, 25 witnesses testifying, and nearly 200 exhibits, the State identified no woman harmed by APR and no consumer complaint against APR, Heartbeat International, or RealOptions.
“They went through a lot of emails and all kinds of stuff that we provided them,” Hecke told Pregnancy Help News. “So, they got into the nitty-gritty of anything that we've ever published through email or Google docs or our marketing practices.”
Any marketing collateral created in a medical environment has to be approved medically, Hecke said. As a group of medical clinics RealOptions is overseen by a physician medical director.
“So clearly I'm not creating things and just publishing them,” she said. “We have a check and balance system to make sure that what we say is accurate and informative and is serving our patient with honesty.”
“Our core values are being caring, compassionate, and honest,” said Hecke. “So that's very important to us.”
As a witness Hecke did not attend the trial until after her testimony was over, so when she did take the stand, the courtroom, its logistics, and environment were a big unknown. It is only natural for there to be a weight with being called to testify in a trial with implications for freedom of speech, non-profits nationwide, and the people they serve. But Hecke said God gave her some wonderful scripture and visions of the situation.
“The Lord really showed me that regardless, I should be looking to Christ and that He's my ultimate judge and to just have peace,” she said.
When she got into the courtroom, sat down, took her oath, and the testimony began, Hecke said she had a supernatural peace.
“Which is completely biblical in the sense that you can't explain it,” she said. “It's just completely supernatural because normally my body reacts in different ways and I really was very calm. I was very confident.”
Hecke is glad that RealOptions personnel got to share their testimonies and why they do what they do.
“My main ‘why’ is because I really want to safeguard,” Hecke said. “My calling is to safeguard lives and the women that we serve.”
“We have a 10-year-old from APR celebrating his 10-year birthday,” she added. “And I celebrate that, and that's really what motivates me, and is just why we're here and what God's called us to do.”
She said she sensed a spirit of oppression through much of the trial, a heaviness, which lifted after it concluded, and she attributes it to spiritual warfare.
“It can't control you,” Hecke said. “But it's there and you have to really pray against that.”
The RealOptions team prayed and fasted for two weeks up until the trial.
“I mean, this was really based in prayer,” Hecke told Pregnancy Help News. “I think most of us just really had that spirit of peace that only the Holy Spirit can give you.”
“In the end, it was an honor and a privilege,” she said, “not something that any of us were excited to be doing, but at the same time we felt very called and convicted that this is true justice and that we need to speak.”
Tweet This: In the end, it was an honor and a privilege to speak in defense of Abortion Pill Reversal.
Hecke said that serving in pregnancy help means living in the tension of John 10:10 every day ("The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full").
“We're the tip of the spear,” she said. “We're talking about life and death, and we are promised that we will be persecuted for our faith.”
“Guess what?” Hecke asked. “We're being persecuted for our faith.”
Nonetheless, the RealOptions staff, volunteers, and supporters are proceeding in faith.
“We're counting it as joy,” said Hecke. “It's an honor.”
The judge has 90 days from September 17 under California law to issue a decision.
Case resources are listed below.
Defendants’ closing trial brief
Open letter in support of the Abortion Pill Rescue Network
Thomas More Society Case Details & Documents
State of California’s Complaint against Heartbeat International & RealOptions
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) and Pregnancy Help News. Heartbeat is currently the subject of two lawsuits brought by state attorneys general concerning sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal.
