Leer en Español
Lila Rose is by far the most recognized name in the pro-life movement in the U.S. thanks to the organization she founded, Live Action, a group that educates people all over the world about the horrors of abortion and the alternatives pregnant women in difficult positions might have.
According to liberal media, Rose is the millennial face of the pro-life movement. Rose achieved this status because, when she was just 19 years old, she began conducting undercover operations at Planned Parenthood centers to demonstrate how the organization was willing to hush up cases of abuse and sex trafficking.
Recently, Lila Rose has been at the forefront of the dozens of pro-life laws that have passed at the state level and now reached the Supreme Court thanks to Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, which has caused serious concern among pro-abortion groups. She has also been quite active in recent weeks as she published her first book, Fighting for Life, which talks about her experiences in the pro-life movement.
Lila Rose kindly spoke with us at El American in an interview you can watch below:
Why should we care about abortion?
Although abortion was bitterly discussed during the Trump presidency because of his attempts to defund Planned Parenthood and his appointment of pro-life justices to the Supreme Court, the topic has wavered over the last few months and does not seem to be high on the agenda of many Americans or politicians. So, why should abortion be the preeminent issue for us?
“What is the bond that is most natural and most strong between human beings? It’s with their mother. That’s how they come into the world and in the body of their mother, they’re nourished by their mother. And this bond is sacred. And it’s meant to be one of protection and love and trust. And so when we break that bond, you break apart so much in human relationships.”
“Nothing even comes close to the 125,000 daily deaths of abortion globally. And then you look at the fact that the law instead of protecting human life as it should, is turned against the most vulnerable members of society. The law doesn’t protect the weak, but that it actually enables adults to kill the weakest, the children, when they’re in the womb,” Lila Rose said.
“This is the leading cause and this is the cause, the human rights issue of our day.”
Lila Rose on the Biden presidency and the strategy of the pro-life movement
Rose says that the goal of Live Action is not just making abortion illegal, but changing the culture. Live Action intends to create a culture of life where abortion is unthinkable. Thus, isn’t it a mistake to fight too much on legal issues instead of focusing on reducing abortion by establishing better sociocultural and economic conditions for pregnant women?
“It’s not an either/or. It can be both. It should be both. And there’s no excuse to not make it both. And why both? One, the law does matter. In countries where abortion has been legalized, the abortion rate has skyrocketed. It happened in the United States and countries where it’s illegal. It does deter women from having abortions. And it’s a matter of justice to you know, we don’t say, oh, “we’re going to make sexual abuse legal because it still happens.”
She agrees that ultimately, the most important element is changing the culture, “we need to work on the culture side. So that involves education, that involves resources, making sure that young families and single mothers, women never feel like they are going to be destitute if they bring this child into the world. Never feel like their only option is abortion. We’re doing a lot of that in the United States with thousands of pregnancy resource centers, a lot of the pro-life movement focusing on adoption and foster care support,” Lila Rose said.
But how to change the culture with a deeply pro-abortion presidency? “I think the next four years will be brutal from a pro-abortion standpoint at the federal level. I mean, Joe Biden is committed. Kamala Harris is committed to expanding Planned Parenthood’s reach and scope and budget as much as they can. Abortions might increase in the next four years. It’s very, very concerning.”
However, she believes there is hope for the future, “Polling is very clear. The vast majority of Americans want abortion restrictions. And so that’s where I’m hopeful. Actually, it will backfire on them and the cultural change will be even stronger. And the potential legal options that the Supreme Court would consider will be stronger because they see the excess of the politics and they see the excess of the Biden administration.”
Edgar is political scientist and philosopher. He defends the Catholic intellectual tradition. Edgar writes about religion, ideology, culture, US politics, abortion, and the Supreme Court. Twitter: @edgarjbb_ // Edgar es politólogo y filósofo. Defiende la tradición intelectual católica. Edgar escribe sobre religión, ideología, cultura, política doméstica, aborto y la Corte Suprema. Twitter: @edgarjbb_