Should the pro-life community commemorate the date of the greatest defeat for the protection of unborn children in America: January 22, 1973? Or should pro-lifers celebrate the day of the greatest victory for the unborn: […]
President D.Trump participates in the first presidential campaign debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Sept. 29, 2020. / Alex Gakos/Shutterstock
Boston, Mass., Jan 3, 2023 / 16:30 pm (CNA).
Former president Donald Trump took t… […]
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch was among the honorees of Live Action’s Life Gala in Dana Point, California, on Sept. 17, 2022. / Screenshot of ETWN YouTube video
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 24, 2022 / 10:00 am (CNA).
For the past several years, Live Action has hosted its annual Life Awards Gala to recognize pro-life leaders for their outstanding work in the defense of life. This year, nearly 500 people gathered in Dana Point, California, on Sept. 17 for the third annual event, the first to be held in a post-Roe America.
This year’s awardees included Pastor Lee Jong-Rak; Mary Wagner, a Canadian pro-life activist; and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch. EWTN Pro-Life Weekly spoke with two of the awardees and the president and founder of Live Action, Lila Rose.
Jong-Rak is the founder of a ministry in South Korea that gives mothers an option other than abortion. Mothers who determine they are unable to care for their baby can anonymously leave their child in a climate-controlled baby box. To date, these baby boxes have helped save more than 1,500 lives.
“When I met the first baby, I was so shocked and I was so moved,” Jong-Rak said. “I prayed to God, and I believe that God gave me a mission to do.”
Meanwhile, Fitch received a standing ovation when given her award. It was her state’s case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, that led the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“Now that we’ve changed the entire narrative in American history, this is a new chapter,” Fitch said. “It truly means so very much to me, but to accept this award not only for myself but for my entire team.”
Rose also shared in the excitement of a post-Roe America: “There’s a lot of joy. There’s so much to celebrate. We have so many heroes in the room tonight,” she said.
“But there’s also the message that our work is just getting started in many ways. We have so much left to do in our movement,” she added.
“So, while we take a pause to celebrate, we’re also making the battle plan for the work ahead to change hearts and minds, to shift public opinion, and to establish legal protection for preborn children in every state of the country,” she said.
Rose also took a moment to comment on her recent interview on the Dr. Phil show and said he, along with many members of the audience, seemed “completely blindsided by pro-life facts — facts about human development, the science of when life begins, by facts on the harm of abortion.”
“People need to hear these facts,” she emphasized. “They’ve been given misinformation, or there’s ignorance about abortion, about its harm, and so we should be prepared to share the facts.”
Rose concluded: “It’s really winsome — when people hear that it gives them an opportunity to see the humanity of the baby, to learn about the evil of abortion, and to have a vision for something better.”
A screenshot from Live Action’s new 2363 video, which details the disturbing reality of surgical abortions. / Live Action YouTube video
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 4, 2021 / 15:52 pm (CNA).
A new pro-life campaign is highlighting the number of unborn babies destroyed in abortion each day in the United States: 2,363. That number takes on a personal meaning for Lila Rose, who is leading the initiative while more than eight months pregnant.
“I think becoming a mom has definitely made me even more passionate about fighting for the lives of children and working to protect them,” the head of Live Action, a national pro-life organization, told CNA. “It makes it that much more personal to experience pregnancy and a little life growing within, and to realize that there is a daily death toll of children like mine of 2,363 a day.”
Live Action’s campaign, 2363, will educate millions about abortion through ads and marketing in four major cities, Rose said: New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Jackson, Mississippi.
Already, she said, the 2363 campaign has inspired pro-life legislation. On Tuesday, Ohio State Rep. Jena Powell introduced the 2363 Act, or House Bill 480. The bill would ban abortions statewide, except in cases where the woman’s life is at risk. Modeled after Texas’ abortion ban, which the Supreme Court heard oral arguments about on Nov. 1, the proposed legislation would allow private citizens to sue anyone who performs or assists with an abortion.
Rose pointed to the 2363 campaign video, which provides details on how abortions are performed, as an instrument in changing hearts and minds. The video features obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Anthony Levatino, who partnered with Live Action to describe abortion procedures. Now a pro-life advocate, Levatino previously performed an estimated 1,200 abortions.
“The abortionist uses this clamp to grasp an arm or a leg,” Levatino says during the video, describing a second-trimester surgical abortion, or dilation & evacuation (D&E) to viewers. “Once he has a firm grip, the abortionist pulls hard in order to tear the limb from the baby’s body.”
He identifies the most difficult part as “extracting the baby’s head” which is “grasped and crushed.” At the end, “the abortionist then collects the baby parts and reassembles them to make sure that there are two arms, two legs, and all the pieces.”
After watching this video, the number of people who listed their position as “abortion should never be legal” increased by 11%, from 33% to 44%, Live Action found. Sixty-two percent of viewers said they viewed abortion more negatively after watching.
“These are the public opinion shifts we’re looking for across the country where people become 100% anti-abortion in support of complete legal protection for the pre-born,” Rose stressed.
Showing abortion for what it is saves lives, she added.
“I think most people want to do what’s right,” Rose said, “and when they find out what a violent act abortion is against the innocent child and how unjust that is and how damaging that is, then many of them change their position on abortion and go from apathetic to passionate, or go from pro-choice to pro-life.”
She called 2,363 “a number that every American needs to know.”
“That’s the daily average of the leading death toll in the United States, higher than heart disease, cancer, or COVID-19,” Rose stressed.
In addition to educating the public, the campaign website, 2363.org, connects women in need with resources and equips pro-life citizens to engage their communities, Rose said of the campaign’s “multi-faceted approach.”
As a pro-life advocate and as a mom, Rose envisions a future “where my kids can grow up in a country that respects children and human life and sees pregnancy as a gift, and supports mothers and fathers instead of rejecting new lives and throwing them away.”
Google offices in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York / MNAphotography/Shutterstock
Denver Newsroom, Sep 17, 2021 / 14:01 pm (CNA).
A dozen U.S. senators on Thursday sent a joint letter to Google’s CEO asking why pro-life ads for abortion pill reversal… […]
Lila Rose, founder of Live Action, addresses the 2021 Live Action Life Awards Dinner at Dana Point, California; Aug. 21, 2021 / Francesca Polio/CNA
Washington D.C., Sep 15, 2021 / 14:50 pm (CNA).
According to the pro-life group Live Action, the … […]
Denver Newsroom, May 29, 2021 / 03:01 am (CNA). Earlier this month Lila Rose, president of Live Action and pro-life human rights activist, published Fighting for Life: Becoming a Force for Change in a Wounded […]
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