She visited a Planned Parenthood clinic and was encouraged to go through with an abortion. She was told that at only six weeks into the pregnancy, "the baby was just a piece of tissue, and there was really no life."
But one week before Gore was scheduled to have the abortion, she received a free ultrasound at her local pregnancy center in Burleson, Texas.
She saw a "flicker of light" on the image and asked the staff members what it was. They explained to her that it was her baby's heart beating.
"I knew that this was a child, and not just a piece of tissue," she recalled.
Gore felt that she had been "lied to by Planned Parenthood." She decided not to abort, and kept her baby girl, Janelle, who will turn 9 years-old in September.
Although she once believed that she never wanted to have children, Gore is now married, and she and her husband have two children of their own.
After nearly nine years of motherhood, she says, "I don't regret of minute of it."
"I'm glad that I did not go through with an abortion," she said, stressing that the crisis pregnancy center offered critical help to her during a difficult time.
The other women in the program had similar stories. They found that the pregnancy center workers they encountered were honest and understanding, helping them with the support and attention they needed in a time of fear and stress.
Hartshorn said that it can be "very eye-opening" for legislators to see "the actual moms and babies that are helped in their own congressional districts or in their states."
And the work done at the pregnancy centers is performed at no cost to taxpayers, she said. The way that Heartbeat International sees its work is as a service to all of the "Body of Christ."
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The Babies Go to Congress program is also a powerful witness, offering "a great message of hope and support," Hartshorn added.
A crisis pregnancy does not mean "that your life is over," she said. "There is help and support. You can get back on track."
Michelle La Rosa is deputy editor-in-chief of Catholic News Agency. She has worked for CNA since 2011. She studied political philosophy and journalism at the University of Dallas.