400 Babies Have Been Saved From Abortion After It’s Already Started, Now Nurses Are Learning to Save More
Facing intense political pressure from abortion activists, a major licensing agency stood its ground this week and delivered a major victory for women facing unexpected pregnancies throughout the nation.
In a written letter sent Dec. 19, the California Board of Registered Nursing notified Heartbeat International that it can now grant continuing education units (CEUs) to nurses who study a life-saving process known as Abortion Pill Reversal.
That’s good news for future mothers who change their mind after taking the first pill in a two-step chemical abortion regimen known as mifepristone (RU-486) or “the abortion pill.” In the past five years, more than 400 mothers have successfully rescued their babies through an emergency progesterone treatment that has been used for more than 50 years to prevent miscarriages.
Backed by a network of more than 350 medical providers, the Abortion Pill Reversal hotline (1-877-558-0333)—staffed with licensed medical professionals—answers over 50 calls per month from women who want to keep their baby after having started the chemical abortion pill process.
In its letter to Heartbeat, the California Board of Registered Nursing acknowledged that Abortion Pill Reversal is relevant to the practice of nursing and, therefore, eligible for CEU credit.
One mother who rescued her baby via Abortion Pill Reversal in 2013, Rebekah Buell, said she had to travel nearly two hours from her Sacramento-area home to visit a doctor who could help her.
“Because of that physician and the progesterone he prescribed, my son, Zechariah, survived the abortion pill, and he is now a healthy and thriving 4-year-old who I cannot imagine life without,” Buell said. “When nurses are unable to be trained in the Abortion Pill Reversal protocol, patients in need—like my and my baby—suffer. That’s what makes this decision so important.”
It’s actually the third time the Board has approved the same coursework for CEUs through Heartbeat, which first received approval as a CEU provider in 2012 and began offering credit for education on Abortion Pill Reversal online and at its annual conference shortly thereafter.
Following a 17-month audit, the Board confirmed Heartbeat’s ability to offer CEU credit for the coursework in a letter sent July 28, 2017, but then reversed its own decision with a letter sent Sept. 5, revoking CEU credit.
The latest decision allows Heartbeat to immediately resume offering CEU credit for an online course and for a workshop at its 2018 conference entitled, “The Latest on Abortion Pill Reversal,” taught by Dr. George Delgado—one of two physicians who pioneered the treatment starting in 2007.
Heartbeat president Jor-El Godsey, who had called the Board’s decision in September a “naked political attack,” said he was impressed that the Board has now placed nursing standards above political pressure.
“Whatever a person’s stance on abortion, knowledge of this critical protocol is too important to withhold from nurses,” Godsey said. “We’re glad that the Board of Nursing acted in the best interest of their noble and caring profession today.”
A Failed Political Hit Job
Along with submitting an immediate appeal in September, Heartbeat placed a public records request that revealed high levels of coordination and influence from prominent abortion lobbyists, including NARAL Pro-Choice America and Rewire News.
As previously reported at PregnancyHelpNews.com, an activist with Rewire, Nicole Knight, teamed up with California State Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) to pressure the Board into auditing Heartbeat starting in late 2015.
According to emails obtained through Heartbeat’s public records request, Knight and representatives from both NARAL and avowedly pro-abortion UC San Francisco insisted that Board officials take action against Heartbeat and its fellow pro-life pregnancy help groups, Care Net and National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA).
Meanwhile, Hill authored legislation to try and disqualify all courses on Abortion Pill Reversal from receiving course credit. Mandating that all courses rely solely upon undefined “generally accepted scientific principles,” the law went into effect in 2016, but ultimately failed to disqualify the training.
After the Board notified Heartbeat that it had approved the course this July, Knight reached out to the Board on August 14 to verify that it had in fact issued the letter, prompting one high-ranking official to warn fellow administrators, “This issue has the potential to go viral.”
