Contact: Nicole King, The Howard Center for Family, Religion, & Society, 815-964-5819, nicole@profam.org; Larry Jacobs, 815-222-2490, larry@profam.org.

ROCKFORD, Ill., Jan. 9, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ -- Dr. Peggy Hartshorn, President of Heartbeat International, will speak on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 at the 15th annual January Life Breakfast, 7:30-8:30 a.m., organized by the Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society and the World Congress of Families to be held at Giovanni's Restaurant & Convention Center, 610 Bell School Road, Rockford Illinois.  Dr. Hartshorn will address the question, "How Are We Winning?: The History, Present, and Future of the Pro-Life Movement."  To register to attend the breakfast, please contact Nicole King at The Howard Center, 1-815-964-5819, nicole@profam.org. Cost is $15 for breakfast.

Margaret H. (Peggy) Hartshorn, Ph.D., has served as President of Heartbeat International since 1993. Under Peggy's leadership, Heartbeat has grown from 250 members to become the largest and most expansive network of Christ-centered, life-affirming, pregnancy help ministries in the world with 1800 affiliates in 50 countries.  Peggy threw herself into the cause of life soon after the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, on January 22, 1973, declared abortion restrictions unconstitutional. In 1974, she and her husband started opening their home to young mothers.  They founded Pregnancy Decision Health Centers (PDHC) in Columbus, Ohio, in 1981.  Today, Peggy travels and speaks extensively, sharing her "hands on" experience with pregnancy help ministries as they develop programs on abortion, abortion recovery, sexual integrity, adoption, and alternatives to abortion. Peggy's book, Foot Soldiers Armed With Love: Heartbeat's First 40 Years, is a personal history of the first 40 years of the pregnancy help movement.  Peggy has been married to Michael Hartshorn for 44 years.  They have two adopted children, now married, and five grandchildren.

The January Life Breakfast was started 15 years ago by Lutherans for Life and Kent and Jean Heise.  Mrs. Heise is the founder of the Haven Network for perinatal death and bereavement and an accomplished leader, speaker, and activist in the pro-life and pro-family movement.  The annual Life Breakfast event is co-hosted by the Rockford Area Pregnancy Care Center.  Other co-sponsors include: the Respect Life Office of the Diocese of Rockford, Paul & Lois Dixon, Mosaic Rockford, Craig & Jan Klaas,, Kent & Jean Heise, Todd & Stephanie Chapin, Carl & Linda Jurgens,  and Tthe Wisconsin Family Council, Dr. Jacob Caraotta and Caraotta Chiropractic Orthopedics.  Contact Nicole King at the Howard Center, 815-964-5819, for more information about registration or sponsorship of the Life Breakfast.

For more information about Dr. Peggy Hartshorn or Peggy's book Foot Soldiers Armed With Love: Heartbeat's First 40 Years visit, www.heartbeatinternational.org.  Heartbeat International advances the pregnancy center help movement around the world.  It is the largest pregnancy center help network in the world with 1800 affiliates in 50 countries. 

For more information about The Howard Center for Family, Religion & Society and the World Congress of Families, visit www.profam.org and www.worldcongress.org.  World Congress of Families VIII with the theme "Every Child A Gift: Large Families, the Future of Humanity" will be held in Moscow, September 10-12, 2014.  The opening session of WCF VIII will be in the Congress Hall of the Kremlin Palace.  A special WCF parliamentary session will also be held in the Russian Duma and special scientific forum at Lomonosov Moscow State University.   The closing ceremony will be held at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral -- the tallest Orthodox Cathedral in the world.   For more information visit the Russian websites at www.worldcongress.ru and www.familypolicy.ru.

To schedule an interview with Dr. Peggy Hartshorn, contact Larry Jacobs at 815-222-2490 (cell), larry@worldcongress.org or Nicole King, 815-964-5819 (office), nicole@worldcongress.org.

What is the Howard Center?  The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society (www.profam.org) is located in Rockford, Illinois and is an independent, non-profit research and education center that provides sound scholarship and effective strategies to affirm and defend the natural family, thus renewing a stable and free society.  The Howard Center is the publisher of the journal, "The Family In America" and is also the organizer of the World Congress of Families (WCF) project which is an international network of pro-family organizations, scholars, leaders and inter-faith people of goodwill from more than 80 countries that seek to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society (as found in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948).  The WCF was founded in 1997 by Dr. Allan Carlson, President of The Howard Center.  To date, there have been five World Congresses of Families -- Prague (1997), Geneva (1999), Mexico City (2004), Warsaw, Poland (2007) and Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2009).  World Congress of Families VI was held in Madrid, Spain in May 25-27, 2012.  World Congress of Families VII was held in Sydney, Australia, May 15-18, 2013, www.wcfsydney2013.org.au.  WCF VIII Moscow 2014 will be held September 10-12 in the Kremlin. www.worldcongress.ru