Columbus, Ohio, Feb 22, 2007 / 09:56 am

Heartbeat International president Peggy Hartshorn has expressed her gratitude for a TIME magazine featuring the life-saving work of the country’s pregnancy resource centers as its cover story this week.

“The Abortion Campaign You Never Hear About” reveals one of America’s best kept secrets, said Hartshorn in a statement. The magazine has a circulation of more than four million.

The article features the Asheville Pregnancy Support Services in Asheville, North Carolina, one of the thousands of crisis pregnancy centers in the U.S. The crisis pregnancy center movement is reportedly growing, raising alarms with pro-abortion groups.

These centers are typically Christian charities, the article points out, often under the umbrella of one of three national groups: Care Net, Heartbeat International, or the U.S. National Institute of Family and Life Advocates.

The article also reports on the pro-abortion lobby’s reaction to these centers and the ongoing debate about whose information (on either side of the debate) is accurate. It explores the dialogue that has emerged between some pro-abortion and pro-life people in Asheville in an effort to find common ground; the group is called Blue Moon.

“Heartbeat International pregnancy centers are providing a level of care that guards the health of women facing an untimely pregnancy,” continued Hartshorn in her statement. “We are working to protect the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of each woman that comes to us for help.”

“Close to 80 percent of post-abortive women have said they would have given birth if they had received support and encouragement, but most receive threats and hostile opposition to a possible decision for life,” said Hartshorn. “We want to be that support that allows them to welcome new life as a gift.”

Heartbeat International, founded in 1971, is an interdenominational Christian association of more than 1,000 pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, non-profit adoption agencies, and medical clinics in 47 states and 37 countries.

Option Line (800-395-HELP), a joint venture with Care Net, connects callers with local pregnancy centers. Each month Option Line responds to approximately 20,000 women.