2024 Heartbeat International Recap
Last week I went to Salt Lake City to speak at the Heartbeat International conference. Heartbeat International is an association of thousands of pregnancy resource centers (PRCs) and hosts an annual conference offering affiliates detailed training on running successful PRCs. The conference is massive. This year they boasted approximately 1,300 attendees in person, plus countless more joining virtually from all around the world.
Building Bridges presentation
I attended to co-lead a workshop on how PRC staff can get a “seat at the table” in local meetings with other public health services and how, once they are in the room, they can talk with community partners about abortion. Specifically, I gave a portion of my Building Bridges presentation focused on how to build connection and have useful conversations with Americans who are ambivalent on the abortion issue.
My talk went over wonderfully! People were engaged, leaning forward, laughing, and asking thoughtful questions. When the formal presentation and Q&A were finished, several attendees stayed to ask further questions and exchange contact info so they could get copies of my presentation slides. Many assured me they were leaving positive reviews on the workshop, which will hopefully translate into additional future invitations to present.
Connecting with colleagues new and old
Meanwhile the trip was a great opportunity to connect with other pro-life activists and SPL supporters. The evening before my presentation I was able to have dinner with Vincent, a pro-life atheist who has been volunteering with SPL for years but whom I’d never before been able to meet in person. We talked about navigating friendships with fellow secularists who are not only pro-choice, but also don’t expect anyone around them to be pro-life. It was great to compare notes.
The next morning before the presentation I had breakfast with SPL supporters who generously drove an hour to meet me. We talked about SPL’s work to create nonpartisan content with a single issue focus in the hopes of broadening the coalition of people who can work together to fight abortion. It was great to learn more about their backgrounds and why they choose to support SPL specifically. One of my favorite parts of my job is learning about the wide variety of walks of life that bring people into our coalition.
I was at the conference for just the day I was presenting, but in that short time I connected with people from
- AAPLOG
- Charlotte Lozier Institute
- Heartbeat International
- Leadership Institute
- SperaVita Institute
- Students for Life of America
- Support After Abortion
- Vitae Foundation
and staff and volunteers from a variety of PRCs around the country (including those who are interested in hosting SPL for speaking engagements in the future).
And to cap it off, I attended the evening’s dinner accompanied by Dr. Dermot Kearney. Dr. Kearney is one of only a few medical professionals in the UK offering abortion pill reversal (and offering to defend the process to pro-abortion doctors). He also happens to be a kind and good humored man who easily makes conversation with everyone around him. I enjoyed talking with him about (and giving feedback on) his social media content and strategies.
Incidentally, thanks in large part to many of you who share our content, Secular Pro-Life has gained a reputation within the pro-life movement for above average online presence. In the last 6-12 months we have been approached by multiple pro-life organizations with larger staff and budgets than ourselves for tips and strategy sessions on social media engagement. Thank you for helping grow our platform.
All this to say the Heartbeat International conference was a great experience. I was able to increase SPL’s visibility with the pregnancy help side of the pro-life movement, train more PRC people on effective outreach in an increasingly secular culture, and strengthen SPL’s relationships with other pro-life orgs and activists.
Thanks so much to those of you who helped cover much of the costs to make this trip happen. Overall flights, hotel room for two nights, and similar costs totaled $780, and support raising in advance covered 80% of trip expenses ($625), leaving about $155 as yet not covered. If you’re able to help with this in any portion, please donate here.
