The CEO and head nurse for the pregnancy help medical clinic currently being sued by the state of California for sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal (APR) is grateful for the opportunity to be a voice for the Lord on behalf of life.
RealOptions Obria Medical Clinics has not stopped accepting APR patients since the onset of The People of the State of California v. Heartbeat International & RealOptions.
“We’ve continued operating and offering APR without fear, and with full faith and confidence in the services that we're providing,” said Tasha Keirns, CEO for RealOptions.
Keirns, an RN and previously Director of Nursing for the group of medical clinics, is grateful to serve in a ministry that encompasses so much of what God has woven in the story of her family’s life, having herself experienced an unplanned pregnancy.
RealOptions has four licensed medical clinics in the San Francisco Bay Area that provide comprehensive medical services to both men and women, along with holistic health services, health and healthy relationship education, life-affirming outreach to students, and wide-ranging reproductive loss support.
RealOptions is being sued by California Attorney General Rob Bonta along with Heartbeat International, the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and globally, for false advertising related to APR. Bonta claims that protocol is medical misinformation and is suing to bar both Heartbeat and RealOptions from “advertising Abortion Pill Reversal as safe and effective.”
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Heartbeat manages the Abortion Pill Rescue Network, a network of nearly 1,500 healthcare professionals, pregnancy centers, and hospitals that administer APR. APRN statistics show that more than 8,000 lives have been saved through APR and counting.
APR is an updated application of a treatment used since the 1950s to combat miscarriage. It entails prescribing bioidentical progesterone to counter the effects of mifepristone, the first of two drugs in a chemical abortion.
Mifepristone blocks progesterone, the natural hormone necessary in a woman’s system to sustain pregnancy. The second pill, misoprostol, taken a day or so later, causes the mother to go into labor and deliver her deceased child.
If a woman has taken the first pill and acts quickly enough it may be possible to save her unborn child. Successful reversals have occurred as long as 72 hours after mifepristone was taken, but results are best within 24 hours.
RealOptions has had 46 babies born following APR treatment, including three sets of twins. The pregnancy help medical clinics have six more pregnancies with women who have completed treatment that are ongoing and progressing well.
Keirns was Director of Nursing at the time the lawsuit began and was already Executive Director when she was deposed in the case. She is set to testify during the trial.
She believes that being placed in the position of defending the ability to share the option of APR with women is simply part of God’s plan.
Keirns grew up in the Bay Area, and once she had determined that she wanted to become a registered nurse she went away to college to start that process. In her freshman year she became pregnant.
“And it was at that point that my boyfriend and I at the time, everything in our life shifted,” she said. “It all changed, and the world, as we had planned it and thought it looked like, was completely different than we expected.”
Keirns said her boyfriend was incredibly supportive of the pregnancy, and she was completely distraught.
“I wasn't exactly sure what the next best steps were,” she said. “I wanted to continue pursuing the goal of becoming a registered nurse and becoming a medical missionary.”
Both international and local missions had been a big part of her upbringing when she became a Christian at 16, and she knew she wanted to combine the two.
“So, when I became pregnant, it really made me feel like I was a hypocrite to my faith,” Keirns told Pregnancy Help News. “It made me feel completely ostracized.”
There were a lot of incongruences between her faith, how she was feeling, and where her heart was pulling her, versus those among their friends and family who were strongly advocating that they abort.
Keirns said some people close to her questioned why she would have this baby, saying if she did, she’d never amount to anything, she couldn't afford it, questioning how good a life she could provide and her ability to be a good mom.
“And so those were the things that were constantly funneling in, as we were faced with this circumstance we did not expect,” Keirns recalled.
Her boyfriend, who's now her husband of 16 years, was very supportive, she said, a rock for her.
“Because ultimately, we did choose life for our son Noah,” Keirns said.
“I didn't know how it was going to work, but God was able to bring us peace in that decision-making process when we chose life,” she said. “And we knew that we could trust in His provision, and He has provided ever since.”
Keirns dropped out of school, moved back home, and had Noah, who's now 15.
“I’m so grateful that God gave me the opportunity to be his mom, and we couldn't imagine our life without him,” she said.
Keirns still understands how the pressures in those circumstances are significant but maintains that motherhood and personal dreams are possible together and that God has a plan for every life.
“You do not have to choose between being a student and following your dreams and accomplishing, not only the calling that He's placed on your life, but any goals and dreams you have, and motherhood,” Keirns said. “You can do both.”
It’s this perspective with which she serves women facing unplanned pregnancy at RealOptions.
“That's what we're here to help empower women to know … both are possible,” she said. “You do not have to choose one or the other.”
Keirns went back to school when her son was about a year-and-a-half old, taking classes online to acclimate. She later enrolled in nursing school, where she came to realize that pregnancy help was the mission field where she wanted to dedicate her nursing career. Keirns wanted to work with women that were dealing with similar circumstances that she had faced.
“I wanted to help women navigate the difficult decisions that need to be made,” Keirns said, “and help them to see the truth behind, not only the development of their baby, but with their body, with their emotions and their mental space, as it is so important to ensure that they're able to process this from a holistic perspective and receive the support that they really need.”
Even with having become pregnant before marriage herself Keirns is frank in denouncing the idea that abortion is the easier option for women facing unplanned pregnancy.
“That's a lie,” she stated. “It's not an easier solution.”
“After having sat with hundreds, maybe even thousands of patients at this point who are considering abortion, not one of them has ever sat across from me excited about it or happy to be considering abortion,” Keirns said. “This is not something that any woman desires to do in their lifetime.”
Keirns had taken multiple mission trips to Mexico and spent a total of eight months in Africa as a teen and also worked for a Christian clothing company, and allowing God to use her story to impact people with His faithfulness through her Christian witness remains important to her.
Coming to RealOptions was an opportunity to bring the truth of life, something so close to God's heart, she says, to the patients she serves.
“Because we were made in His image, He created us,” Keirns said, “And it's so important that we have that perspective and share those truths and help women understand, not only what's happening inside their body, but care for them mentally and emotionally as well as they process the decisions that they're making.”
Keirns points out that all RealOptions staff, whether nurses, educators, in HR, serving in RealOptions retreats or support groups, or clinic staff, they are all missionaries in the Bay Area.
“It's important for us to have that eternal perspective,” she said. “RealOptions is a beautiful ministry, and this is exactly where God has called each of us to be for such a time as this.”
Keirns originally started working for Support Circle Clinics, which at the time had three clinics in the Bay Area. The organization then merged with RealOptions in 2020. At that time Keirns was Nurse Manager over the three clinical locations for Support Circle and became Nurse Manager over the five RealOptions sites. Following this, Keirns became Director of Nursing.
As RealOptions’ CEO at the time, Valerie Hill, was planning her succession transition, Keirns became Executive Director before being appointed CEO in July 2025 six months before Hill retired in December 2025.
Keirns and her husband have had two more boys born since Noah, his younger brothers ages 8 and 5. They’ve also lost two children to ectopic pregnancy, one resulting in a rupture and surgery to remove the fallopian tube.
She says that God remains faithful to the promise of provision with their choice of life and this is what connects her heart to the full breadth of the RealOptions ministry.
As a nurse she is very pro-education, she said, and she is thrilled that RealOptions can educate youth and help prepare them for healthy life choices. This goes also for the nurses in the clinics in that they can fully educate patients in reproductive health.
“Women deserve more informed consent when making any reproductive health decisions, including Abortion Pill Reversal as well,” Keirns said.
Tweet This: Women deserve more informed consent when making any reproductive health decisions, including Abortion Pill Reversal as well.
Keirns is thankful for her medical background and the opportunity to still come in and serve in the clinic and see patients, even as CEO.
“I believe it's so important to be hands on in all the departments that we have,” she said, “whether I'm serving at a conference or serving in the classroom or tabling on the quad in college campuses or meeting with patients, it's so important for me to be able to have that experience and stay connected to the pulse of the ministry.”
Keirns is also resolute in the fact that sharing information about Abortion Pill Reversal is part of informed consent.
“It's truly important that women have the right to make their own decisions,” Keirns said. “If they do change their mind about the pregnancy and realize the abortion is something they no longer want to continue with, women should not be forced to complete a medical procedure that they no longer consent to.”
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.
