By: Lia Mills
My passion for justice and for seeing abortion end in my lifetime was first ignited when I was 12 years old. In Grade 7, I had a class project where I was to write a 5-minute speech on any topic of my choice. I had grown up in a Christian home and I knew that I could hear God’s voice, and so, feeling undecided, I decided to pray and ask God what topic I should write about. His suggestion would flip my world upside-down, even though I didn’t know it at the time. He suggested the topic of abortion.
People have criticized my message, saying that I was brainwashed by my parents and was indoctrinated in a pro-life household. Nothing could be further from the truth. I grew up in Christian home, yes, but we were far from the stereotypical, actively pro-life family that pro-abortion advocates envision. In fact, up until I was 12 years old, I had only really heard about abortion once or twice; it was mentioned briefly in a movie I watched a few months earlier. Apart from that, I was clueless about the reality of abortion. In some ways, I think this is one reason why God called me to speak about the issue. Perhaps being unqualified is what made me willing to speak about such a controversial topic. Any success I experienced would be a direct product of God’s strength and wisdom, and would belong to Him, not to me. Undoubtedly, my prior lack of understanding regarding the issue of abortion gave me a fairly clean slate to work with.
When I first began to do research on the subject, I was immediately gripped by the reality of the horrific and atrocious nature of abortion. Admittedly, as a child I was rather naïve; everything was either black or white, right or wrong. There was no room for compromise in my mind. While I have changed since then and have learned the necessity of greys, in-between spaces that require a more delicate understanding of an issue, I am still convinced that abortion is black and white, right or wrong. Sometimes, when people grow up, they complicate things. Overanalyze. Sometimes, when people grow up, they forget that there is still simplicity in life, particularly in the intrinsic value of life. No factor, no compromising idea, can convince me that human life is not always important, always worth protecting, always valuable. That is why I am pro-life without exception.
As I did more research, my 12-year-old eyes were opened to the reality of the injustice of abortion. I began to care, not only because the God I loved cared, but because I knew that, as someone enjoying freedom, it was my responsibility to fight for those being denied their most basic freedoms.
I faced a number of challenges in my pursuit of justice. I was told that my topic was “too big, too mature, and too controversial”. I was eliminated from the attached public speaking contest, and then re-entered, only to be promptly disqualified once more. I had a judge step down from the judging panel simply because he didn’t want to hear what I had to say about abortion.
While all of that was happening, my family and I videotaped my speech and posted it on YouTube for a few friends. A few views turned into a few thousand views, which turned into a few hundred thousand views. Currently, the original video has been viewed over 2.25 million times. Since I know this topic was neither my idea nor my original passion, all of this success belongs to God.
I have continuously fought against abortion and other injustices, such as human trafficking and euthanasia, for the past 5 years. I have dedicated my life to being a voice for those who have been made voiceless. Through my experiences, I have learned a number of things about myself and about the human race.
People often ask me how I became so passionate; they are often hungry to know my secret. So here it is: Passion is neither a feeling nor an accidental discovery. Passion is a choice, a habit that must be nurtured and maintained. This is the attitude I have as I push toward a future where human life, in all stages and with all differences, is embraced and protected.
My life is not my own and I will lay it down as a sacrifice for future generations. With every breath I have, I will fight for those who were never given a chance to breathe. And because success rides on the back of sacrifice, I know that I will one day have the privilege of living in a nation where abortion is unthinkable
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