(CNSNews.com) - Ties and briefcases were replaced by bibs, bottles and toys as one group made their way through the halls of Congress on Wednesday. The moms and their children were part of Heartbeat International’s “Babies Go to Congress” campaign to let Senators and representatives know how pregnancy care centers changed their lives--and those of their children.

“Crisis pregnancy centers are good for America,” Dori Eddolls of Columbus, Ohio told CNSNews.com was the message she wanted to tell members of Congress from her state. “They are good for women. It’s not just about abortion versus pro-life. It’s about these are your choices. It explains what they are.”
 
“It gives women information and it makes women believe in themselves,” Eddolls said. “That’s my message today.”

With the help of Heartbeat International, a faith-based network of more than 1,000 pregnancy centers around the world, and staff from some of its affiliates, Eddolls came to Capitol Hill with her daughter, Jocelyn--the daughter she found out she was pregnant with when she was 17 and unmarried.

“We were not married and I got pregnant and so we went to a Planned Parenthood because I didn’t know there was a difference between a Planned Parenthood or a pregnancy crisis center,” Eddolls, 32, said. “I didn’t even know there were crisis pregnancy centers.”
 
“I thought, OK, if I am pregnant they are going to explain my choices,” Eddolls said. “At least then I’ll know what I’m doing. And if I’m not, they’ll give me the slap on the wrist, probably give me birth control and send me out the door.”

Eddolls said she and her boyfriend Greg--who as of today has been her husband for 15 years and the father of their four children--waited to be called back into a room to hear her test results. Instead, a staffer came into the lobby and announced that she was pregnant.

“She said, ‘OK you’re pregnant,’ right there in the waiting room,” Dori said. “When do you want to schedule your abortion?’ I just turned to my boyfriend and said, ‘We gotta get out of here.”

Jocelyn, 14, is taller than her mom with long blonde hair. She laughed when asked about her mom’s decision that day.

“I think it’s awesome, because now I have two younger brothers and a younger sister and I don’t know what I’d do without them and I’m pretty sure they couldn’t live without me either,” Jocelyn said.

In January, in conjunction with attending the annual Walk for Life pro-life rally on the National Mall, Heartbeat International brought several moms and their children to Capitol Hill. It was such a success that the organization plans to visit the offices of members of Congress four times a year.

Joe Young, vice president of Ministry Support with Heartbeat International, told CNSNews.com that although the non-profit doesn’t have a political action component, the organization facilitates the visits to Washington, D.C. so that constituents can share their stories with their representatives and senators,

“(The moms’) stories are so powerful,” Young said, adding that he hopes informing Congress about what pregnancy centers do to help women and their families will prevent legislation that could harm the work done by those centers.

“A lot of these members of Congress have a pre-conceived idea of what pregnancy centers are,” Young said. “A lot of that was formed from the Waxman Report a few years ago that was very negative about pregnancy centers. So members of Congress thought that pregnancy centers were manipulative, the religious right and (were) scaring women.

“We actually get to bring clients and women who serve in these centers to meet members of Congress and say ‘Our heart is for women; it’s to serve women; it is not manipulative at all. We are going to lay out the truth about what we do and how we can serve you. And how we are going to serve you no matter what choice you make.”

Young said pregnancy centers are forthcoming about their opposition to abortion, but if a woman chooses to have one they have post-abortion counseling for those who seek it.

He also said that pregnancy centers offer much more than pregnancy and STD testing and pre-natal care and support. Centers also offer a range of post-pregnancy services that can include housing assistance, parenting and nutrition classes and job training.

Critics of pregnancy centers, however, claim the centers misinform and frighten women to make them decide to continue with their pregnancies.

“Deciding what to do about an unplanned pregnancy can be very difficult. It may be made even more difficult by so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers.’ These are fake clinics run by people who are anti-abortion. They have a history of giving women wrong, biased information to scare them into not having abortions,” the Planned Parenthood Web site states.

Young said the reaction from members of Congress to the visits of moms and their children is overwhelming positive.

“The most common reaction we get is ‘We had no idea this is what pregnancy centers did,” Young said. “When women share their stories about the situations they’ve come out of, what their choices were and the help pregnancy centers have given them, they’re overwhelmed.”

Julianne Fanning, 27, of Springfield, Mo, .told CNSNews.com that she faced an unplanned pregnancy several years ago.

“Six years ago I found myself unemployed, evicted, pregnant and unmarried,” Fanning told CNSNews.com. “I really had no one on my side.”

After a friend referred her to the pregnancy center, Fanning said she was given housing and a mentor who offered emotional support throughout her pregnancy and connected her with the resources she needed. She said she didn’t consider abortion her first choice, but that desperation could have changed her mind.

“It could have become an option very quickly,” she said.

Fanning said she considered giving her son up for adoption, but decided against it mid-way through her pregnancy.

“I’m very glad about the decision I made,” said Fanning, who brought her 5-year-old son Nikolaus to Washington.

This week’s campaign included visits to the offices of Reps. John Boccieri (D-Ohio), Bobby Bright (D-Ala.), Parker Griffith (D-Ala.), Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio), Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.), Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Penn.) and Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.). The offices of Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) also were visited.

Young said the next “Babies go to Congress” trip to Washington is planned for July and that by January, 2110 Heartbeat International hopes to bring moms and their children from all 50 states to Capitol Hill.