The Most Dangerous Alliance in the Anti-Abortion Movement

Heartbeat International hosted an 'abolitionist' group at their annual conference

Just when you think you’ve lost the ability to be shocked: the country’s largest and most powerful network of crisis pregnancy centers is publicly aligning itself with abortion ‘abolitionists’—the movement that wants to punish abortion patients with the death penalty.

A few days ago, Heartbeat International hosted the Foundation to Abolish Abortion (FAA) as an exhibitor at its annual conference. (The theme, ironically enough, was “the power of love.”) The so-called abolitionists wrote on Twitter that they attended the conference to speak directly with CPC leaders:

“Because there is no contradiction between justice and mercy, we can both minister to abortion-minded women and criminalize abortion as murder for everyone involved, including women.”

When Abortion, Every Day did some digging, we discovered that Heartbeat requires all exhibitors to “align with Heartbeat International principles.” In other words, the country’s most powerful CPC network—which boasts more than 4,000 centers nationwide—considers punishing women with life in prison or execution to be in line with its mission.

There’s no overstating how significant this is: the news isn’t just further evidence of how normalized ‘abolitionists’ have become—but a chilling reminder of the power of crisis pregnancy centers, and what they could accomplish when aligned with activists hell-bent on punishing women.

CPCs aren’t just fake clinics—they’re the surveillance arm of the anti-abortion movement. These groups collect women’s personal data—often lying about being bound by HIPAA—and share that information with other activists. In 2024, AED uncovered that Heartbeat International was allowing thousands of volunteers, trainees, and non-medical staff to access women’s health data. In at least one case, that information was accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Crisis pregnancy centers also collaborate with law enforcement, which is especially alarming as pregnancy criminalization continues to rise.

And all of this is happening as state funding for CPCs skyrockets, Republicans insist these centers can replace the real clinics their policies are shutting down, and lawmakers move to shield CPCs from state oversight entirely.

Then there’s the growing power of ‘abolitionists’, which AED has been warning about for years. Last year, more than a dozen states considered legislation that would prosecute abortion patients as murderers—which would be punishable by death in some states. And while Republicans like to dismiss these as outlier efforts, ‘equal protection’ bills are gaining more co-sponsors every year. ‘Abolitionists’ are even getting elected to office.

I know, it’s a lot. But we shouldn’t despair—funnily enough, Heartbeat International has handed us an opportunity.

Because remember, Republicans have made a big bet on CPCs.

At a moment when women voters are disgusted by attacks on reproductive rights, Republican leaders and legislators have been using CPCs to soften their image—pointing to funding for these groups as proof that they support women and families.

So let’s make them own it.

Every legislator who voted to fund crisis pregnancy centers should be asked—on the record—how they feel about Heartbeat’s relationship with the Foundation to Abolish Abortion. Ask them if they think taxpayer dollars should go to organizations that support executing abortion patients. If they don’t, ask them if they’d pull state or federal funding from groups that do want to punish women.

It’s not just lawmakers who need to answer these questions, but centers themselves—especially if they’re affiliated with Heartbeat International.

Every local reporter should be calling their town’s CPC and asking where they stand on jailing and executing patients. Make them say it out loud.

We should be out there too: leaving comments on CPC Facebook pages, sending them emails, and tagging them across social media. Reproaction—who first alerted us to this news—has a database of CPCs to get you started.

Crisis pregnancy centers insist they exist to help vulnerable women.

So what does it say that they’re aligning with a movement that believes those same women deserve to be punished—or killed?