Small sacrifices and acts of compassion can open a door to hope for women navigating unexpected pregnancy decisions.
Such was the exhortation given by Sarah Hurms, one of the speakers at the National March for Life rally recently in Washington, D.C.
Hurms shared the testimony of how she had immediate regret after taking abortion pills at a Planned Parenthood facility. Thankfully, she found support and the medical help she needed to save her baby when she called the Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline.
Today, that baby is seven years old and Hurms, a mother of four, often tells her story as a staunch advocate for abortion pill reversal, pregnancy resource centers, and adoption.
“Here’s what I want you to know,” she told the crowd on the National Mall. “Saving a life can be as simple as answering a phone call, driving a friend to an ultrasound, helping her pick out a car seat, or showing up in any little moment.”
“Small sacrifices can become enormous victories that can support moms like me and children like mine. You have that power. Be that person who connects a woman to hope. Be the reason she knows she’s not alone.”
Unfortunately, Hurms felt desperately alone when she found out she was pregnant with her fourth child and her boyfriend reacted with harsh and judgmental treatment.
“His words drove me to call the abortion facility,” she said.
Still, Hurms was seeking guidance and counseling, but was told by Planned Parenthood that abortion was all they could offer. Something remarkable happened, however, during the ultrasound. A clinic worker said, “You are lucky the heartbeat bill hadn’t passed (in this state), because if it had, we wouldn’t be able to continue.”
Hearing that her baby had a strong heartbeat at not even six weeks old made an indelible impression on Hurms.
“As soon as I walked out of the facility, it was as if the world went from dark gray to bright blue,” she said. “The clinic had felt lifeless. Outside, I felt life again. That sharp contrast between darkness and light made me feel something I will never forget. I instantly began to regret my decision, and I broke down in my car.”
“I continued to try and go about my day, but I couldn’t even so much as look in my children’s faces without thinking about the child within me.”
Thankfully, an online search led her to the number of the Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline, where she was greeted with a “warm, helpful voice” on the other end.
“I realized that I wasn’t alone, I wasn’t without options, and I could fight for my child’s life—and so I did. I met a doctor and a team who gave me care, guidance, love, and most of all, hope.”
“This was exactly what I needed, and it was far different from the abortion clinic, which had treated me like a transaction.”
By the grace of God, the chemical abortion was able to be reversed, and her son was born in January of 2019. She calls him one of the greatest joys of her life.
Hurms’ recollection of being treated in a transactional manner at the abortion facility stands in sharp juxtaposition to the care she received from the abortion pill reversal hotline and the compassionate transformational work that happens every day in pregnancy resource centers.
Care Net President and CEO Roland Warren writes about this distinction in his latest book, The Alternative to Abortion: Why We Must Be Pro Abundant Life.
“Once a woman’s abortion is complete, the abortion clinic’s services and assistance end,” he writes. “Abortion becomes like a financial transaction. You pay the clinic to ‘fix’ this specific problem. Kind of like getting your transmission replaced or your water heater fixed. Abortion providers cannot offer the life transformation that so many women who seek abortions desperately need.”
True transformation for women and men facing pregnancy decisions requires the support, hope, and compassion found in pregnancy centers and the church.
This reality stands at the core of Care Net’s Pro Abundant Life philosophy, which is based on the words of Jesus in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
“The transactional model, whether it’s Planned Parenthood or a retail business, is simply not made to transform lives,” said Roland Warren. “Only Jesus can transform lives.”
In her 2023 Condition of the State Address, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds told the story of Sarah Hurms’ remarkable transformation and abortion pill reversal experience to illustrate the need to support pregnant women.
“Today, Sarah volunteers at a pregnancy clinic that provides support to women facing unplanned pregnancies,” Reynolds said. “She shares her story and her compassion with mothers who are facing the same decision. She helps give them the support that was missing for her — support that should be available to every expectant mother.”