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Gabrielle Lara has been campaigning, hard, for the right to life amendment this summer — and telling international media and her social media followers why.
The Washington Post headline put it well: “The stakes could not be higher’: Kansas abortion vote set for Aug. 2.”
That’s a reference to the vote on the amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would clarify which would clarify that “the constitution of the state of Kansas does not require government funding of abortion and does not create or secure a right to abortion,” and “elected state representatives and state senators, may pass laws regarding abortion.”
The abortion industry has pulled out all of the stops to try to defend its ability to do business in the state. Defenders of the right to life may be losing the funding battle against corporate goliaths, but they make up for it in enthusiasm.
Gabrielle Lara is a 2022 graduate of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, where she performed in the college’s Raven Regiment Marching Band, served as president of Ravens Respect Life and more.
The Post spotlighted Lara, saying the 23-year-old “has been leading the canvassing efforts in the Kansas City area for Students for Life Action”
Lara wasn’t always pro-life. She grew up supporting abortion, “But she changed her views after watching a friend endure guilt and shame after an abortion three years ago,” the paper reported.
The international Reuters news service also focused on Lara’s door-knocking efforts, saying the recent college graduate “had a fresh forearm tattoo of a rose and ‘2022’ in Roman numerals to commemorate the fall of Roe v. Wade.”
Reuters even quoted one of the people Lara reached: Amanda Hopson, a 37-year-old mother of two who told the news service she refused to abort her oldest son, even after suffering a car accident that led to her water breaking at 13 weeks. Her son survived and is now 3.
Lara posted on social media what her interactions have been like as she knocks on doors for the pro-life cause. She said, “I had a series of middle aged adults tell me that I’m ‘uneducated’ when it comes to the abortion topic, and that a majority of my generation ’needs’ Roe and I need to ‘listen to more people’. Most pointed out the fact that because I’m religious, that’s ‘why I’m pro life.”
Her answer:
“Listen, I know I’m only 23, but I don’t think that’s a disqualifying factor in being an advocate for the 63 million that died in all the 49 years that Roe has existed. Imagine being so upset that children get to live.
Second, my generation doesn’t need roe, only 11% of Americans support abortion until birth, and that is exactly what Roe was…
Third, you’re right, I do need to listen to more people. But anytime I become open to listening to pro-choice arguments, when I ask a genuine question about their stance, they can never answer with consistency, nor can answer with respect. How can I take you seriously if you’re just going to call me names? Lol.
and LASTLY, stop pointing out that I’m religious. So what? That’s a weak argument as there are religious, pro-choice people AND religious pro-life people … This is just because the majority of Americans are… religious. (Wow, shocker) I LITERALLY used to be pro-choice, until I learned what actually HAPPENS in an abortion (abortionprocedures.com) and that cases like ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages are NOT abortions. Intent matters, if the child cannot be saved, or is already dead, the removal is a MEDICAL procedure, not an abortion. An abortion intentionally poisons, dismembers, and ends the life of a human being.
I talk to people on the DAILY about this issue for a living (literally, it’s my full time job)— If I’m so ‘uneducated.’ I were, why I have I spent the last 6 years trying to learn the ins and outs of the abortion industry? Why did I change my mind from being pro-choice to pro-life? Why would I spend so much energy learning answers to tough questions about this every single day?”
Join Gabrielle and others with Kansas connections and help promote the Value Them Both amendment between now and the Aug. 2 vote date.
Benedictine College’s mission can Transform Culture in America by modeling community in an age of incivility, spreading faith in an age of hopelessness, and committing to scholarship in a “post-truth” era. We create video and other media content to promote positive messages of faith, hope, and love while Ex Corde Media Fellows program provides students with the tools, experiences, and contacts they need to enter the 21st century media world as effective communicators. Learn about the Ex Corde Media Fellows program.
