Nebraska pro-life ministry brings ultrasounds to classrooms across the U.S.

Heart of a Child Ministries, based on Omaha, is expanding by training pro-life leaders to present fetal development education in schools across the country.

On the 2012 anniversary of Roe v. Wade, during a Holy Hour, Nikki Schaefer and her 7-year-old daughter, Grace, were inspired to begin a simple ministry selling hand-sewn pro-life pillows to raise money for pregnancy centers. Today, Heart of a Child Ministries has expanded into a fetal development education program present in K–12 classrooms across the country.

The ministryʼs initial sale of the pro-life pillow raised roughly $40,000 shortly after they began, Schaefer told EWTN News. “With the sale of the pillow, we were featured in an article, and that’s how the first invitations to schools started to emerge in 2015.”

“So, itʼs been 11 years since weʼve been in schools,” Schaefer said. “Since that first presentation, all kinds of things have come forth: We have presented in eight different states, we are all over the state of Nebraska, we have developed a K-4 Celebration of Life program, a fifth through sixth program, a middle school, and a high school and beyond program.”

Founded in Omaha, Nebraska, Heart of a Child Ministries is growing into a multistate presence, with two new fetal certified educators in Illinois, one in Springfield and another set to be trained in Mokena in October. The organization also now has certified educators in Alabama and Idaho.

Fetal development education for every level

Heart of a Child’s fetal development education brings live ultrasounds to classrooms in a way that is specially tailored to suit each grade level. Its K–4 program centers on “fun fetal facts for kids” and includes “all kinds of hands-on things,” such as a team of musicians who play songs, according to Schaefer. “The kids absolutely love it,” she said. “We’re just putting the joy of life in front of them.”

Having the foundation of a K–4 program is crucial, according to Schaefer. “It really solidifies the deal — it puts the truth in their hearts from the very beginning so that when the lies start coming in middle school through social media, through their friends, they’ve already seen an ultrasound; they’ve already learned all these amazing facts about what’s happening.”

Through middle school, the curriculum progresses with more detailed fetal development facts, adoption stories, and begins addressing the abortion issue. In high school, the live ultrasound and fetal development education is supplemented with more detailed information about abortion, a testimonial speaker, and a panel discussion.

The ministry’s first college event on March 30, sponsored by Turning Point USA, utilized this format. The event took place at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska, and included a panel of two OB-GYN doctors, a representative for the abortion pill reversal (APR), Teresa Kenney, host of the Hormone Genius podcast, and other pro-life experts.

“We feel confident that when kids walk away from that, their hearts are changed, their hearts are moved, and we have the statistics to prove that,” Schaefer said, noting their events have had “a 56% conversion rate on average” among students regarding the topic of abortion.

Schaefer emphasized that the root of the program’s success is its holistic approach, acknowledging that each child processes information differently depending on age, personality, and maturity.

“Every piece that we do is extremely important because it hits kids at different levels,” she said. “Some kids are more logical, right? They want the facts. Some kids are more heart. They want to hear a testimonial for some from someone who had an abortion, and it affected them. That’s what’s going to touch their hearts.”

9 months of pregnancy for 9 months of school

Apart from its latest multistate expansion, Heart of a Child has also debuted a fetal development curriculum for teachers to implement in their classrooms year-round.

Titled “The Journey Within,” the teacher-led curriculum takes students through nine months of pregnancy during nine months of the school year, with posters, fetal development PowerPoints, ultrasound videos, studies, and images of babies in the womb.

A version of the curriculum is available for both public and Catholic schools and has been vetted by a medical panel for accuracy, Schaefer noted.

“For Catholic schools, we have a spiritual component where each month the teachers go through Scripture readings or a Church teaching, and the kids reflect on that, write about that, and go deeper,” she said. The faith-based curriculum operates under a “4S model” that incorporates Scripture, science, stories, and service. Each faith-based school that Heart of a Child presents to completes a service project, such as raising money to buy diapers for pro-life pregnancy centers.

Schaefer emphasized the importance of fetal development curriculum today, noting that “right now the buzz in pro-life education and the pro-life movement in general is that different states have passed a law requiring fetal development education.”

States that have laws requiring fetal development education in public schools include Tennessee, Idaho, North Dakota, Indiana, West Virginia, Iowa, and Ohio. Lobbying efforts in Nebraska to pass similar legislation have yet to be successful, Schaefer said, citing difficulty in finding a senator to prioritize a bill with precise language.

“We’ve been meeting with senators, and unfortunately the bill they came up with [had] the potential for a Planned Parenthood to get in there and do fetal development education because it was too loose,” she said. “So weʼve recommended the senators to go back and redo the language, and it might be where certain fetal development programs are required in the state of Nebraska.”

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen has signaled his support of efforts to pass legislation requiring education on fetal development in Nebraska public schools, telling EWTN News in an interview earlier this year: “I am 100% behind it and am supportive of it.”