Here’s the situation…
1,226 students age 0-17 received abortions in 2015 in Illinois.
13,065 students age 18-24 received abortions in Illinois in 2015.
Combined, that means 14,291 (36% of all abortions in Illinois) happen on high school students moving onto college. Our Heart2Heart Program directly combats 36% of our state’s abortions by reaching students when abortion begins affecting them. The Heart2Heart Program gives pro-life students the information and tools to reach out to friends who may find themselves in an abortion situation, giving them the confidence to counsel their friend away from abortion.
If we can partner with Illinois teachers to bring this message to students, we will be able to stop abortions before they happen, dramatically reduce the 36% of abortions performed on our students, save babies, and save a generation from a lifetime of pain and hurt.
Don’t you think it’s time we had a heart-to-heart with our students?
What did we learn from our research?
Before developing our Heart2Heart Educational Program, we researched and spoke with several teachers and students at different high schools in Illinois. We wanted to know what the attitudes and values of their students were toward certain life issues, if they considered themselves pro-choice or pro-life, and if there was a need in classrooms for engaging, fact-based education on these topics.
What we found shocked us.
Teachers from several of our premier Catholic and Christian high schools were in agreement that at least 2/3 of their student body were either pro-choice or indifferent on the issue of abortion and related topics. In our experience speaking and presenting to students at these high schools, we witnessed the same thing. It was then that we realized the enormous need for an educational program that would engage students while helping them to understand the pro-life values and the real facts behind the issues.
Our Results:
In the fall of 2016, we had the first video shoot for the Heart2Heart Educational Program in front of a large studio audience of 200 students – both pro-choice and pro-life. As our featured speakers told their stories, not only were some students moved to tears, but so was one of the film crew.
Students’ responses were glowing and 100% positive. 94% of students said they felt more pro-life after hearing the talks. That included the pro-choice students in the audience. (The remaining 6% of students said they were already extremely pro-life so they felt no different.) 72% of students said they felt significantly more pro-life after watching the talks.
The Heart2Heart Program is already breaking down the walls of pro-choice and indifferent students and turning them pro-life!
What have students said?
Here are just a few of the many comments we received when we asked students for feedback on the program:
“Thank you so much for coming …These talks have sparked so much positive conversation about abortion. Hearts and minds are changing because of these testaments. I am so excited for them to be used to train other students and groups across the state!” – Female high school student
“I just feel more involved now. I feel I have a deeper root now that I’ve heard from people first-hand impacted by abortion. I’ve cemented my status of hopefully being a leader of the pro-life generation. Knowing some people in my classes, I think it would definitely change their minds on the questions about abortion. Coming from a Catholic school, none of us really understood the first-hand effects of abortion. But through this video I feel like most of us will come to know now.” – Male high school student
“I just wanted to say everyone was absolutely amazing and I’m making a promise to you that I will do whatever I can to help people out in this position if I ever come across this and even if it’s personal. God bless you for having this talk. Thank you!! This was so meaningful and changed my perspective on things.” – Female high school student