Contact: Jay Hobbs, Heartbeat International, 614-885-7577

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 14, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ -- Responding to a report from LifeSiteNews.com uncovering an ongoing plan between the Maryland chapter of NARAL Pro-Choice America and the public officials in Montgomery County, Md., to impede or eliminate pregnancy help organizations, Heartbeat International President Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., pointed to the success of pregnancy centers in her companion article at LifeSiteNews.com.

Read LifeSiteNews.com Report Here.

Read Peggy Hartshorn's Response Here. 

"Heartbeat International and our worldwide network of life-affirming organizations believe no mother should feel so alone, so vulnerable, or so coerced that she ends her child's life through abortion," Hartshorn, who has served as Heartbeat International's President since 1993, wrote. "These vital organizations enable a mother to make a true choice through a variety of services, including ultrasound, options counseling, maternity housing, and the ability to make an adoption plan."

"And this is why we pose such a threat to NARAL and company. It's not just that we are their competition. It's that we are winning."

Hartshorn's comments come in the wake of the publication of an email string dating back as far as 2009, obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, which capture ongoing strategy between Maryland's NARAL chapter president Jodi Finkelstein and current Montgomery County Council president George Leventhal.

The pair discussed the County's ongoing strategy to compel government speech from Heartbeat International affiliate Centro Tepeyac Silver Spring Women's Center.

Montgomery County first passed a city ordinance Feb. 2, 2010 requiring, among other things, "limited service pregnancy resource centers" – any facility that does not perform abortions – to post a sign in English and Spanish in its waiting room saying that "the Center does not have a licensed medical professional on staff" and that "the Montgomery County Health Officer encourages women who are or may be pregnant to consult with a licensed health care provider."

A lawsuit brought by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of Centro Tepeyac resulted in three separate court victories, which finally resulted in the County dropping its unconstitutional ordinance and paying Centro Tepeyac $375,000 in legal fees.

"Pregnancy help organizations like Centro Tepeyac exist so that every mother can feel loved and supported during her pregnancy," Hartshorn said. "The only opponents to this mission are those who, like NARAL, stand to gain financially and ideologically by the intentional killing of a child within the womb."