Kristan Hawkins’ message to a room full of people dedicated to the pro-life cause was affirming yet challenging: Great job, but there’s more work to do.
As president of Students For Life of America, Hawkins gave the keynote speech at the St. John Paul II Champions for Life Awards banquet Oct. 8 at the Church of St. Peter in Mendota. The annual event honors those who work to advance the pro-life cause and is sponsored by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Marriage, Family and Life.
While pro-life advocates can feel downtrodden and discouraged at times, just Google “pro-life” or “abortion” to see that the movement is succeeding, even advancing over pro-abortion and “reproductive rights” rhetoric, Hawkins said.
“We are winning. And it’s not coming fast enough, but we are winning,” she said.
Despite having “the most pro-abortion president in history,” Hawkins pointed to all the pro-life bright spots. For instance, the number of closed abortion facilities in Texas (Hawkins said down to six from 40) after the state legislature passed restrictions in 2013; a former NARAL-Pro-Choice America president citing the lack of pro-abortion leadership as one of her reasons for quitting; and the recent videos from the Center for Medical Progress exposing Planned Parenthood’s practice of selling body parts of aborted fetuses. When Students For Life decided to register people to vote during an annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., they didn’t have much success because most of the participants weren’t old enough to vote.
“The tide is turning, and we’re in the cusp of it,” she said.
Her work with Students For Life of America, now in its ninth year as a full-time ministry, seeks to engage and train high school and college-age students in the pro-life movement, and to reach young people before the abortion industry does.
Comparing the pro-life movement to a “David and Goliath” situation, Hawkins said everyone who wants to abolish abortion can do so by deciding to take a stand.
“God has worked through us . . . to make more Davids,” said Hawkins, who has served as president of Students For Life of America since 2006. “When you’re willing to put yourself out there, it works because of the Holy Spirit.”
Hawkins said there are three main ways people can propel the pro-life movement to help ensure that abortion is abolished during their lifetime:
1. Tell your story and listen to others, responding with love and compassion;
2. Envision a nation without abortion; and
3. Seek social justice.
Hawkins shared the story of a post-abortive woman who, in urging politicians not to approve a budget that would continue to fund Planned Parenthood, made a powerful impression when she explained why she had a black tooth — she cannot go to the dentist because the sounds and environment remind her of her abortion.
The social justice part, Hawkins stressed, isn’t “a Facebook meme you can share, a retweet or a check you can sign,” but rather an investment of time. She recommends volunteering at pregnancy resource centers to help women get out of a cycle of poverty, meeting them where they are and supporting them.
