Lila Rose on the Pro-Life Movement & the Presidential Elections — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00I think the pro-life movement is so
2. 0:02deeply connected to the our faith
3. 0:05because Jesus is giving us the model of
4. 0:07Love here is my body given for you and
5. 0:10abortion is I'm going to take from you
6. 0:13I'm going to take even kill you for my
7. 0:15own sake so abortion is the opposite of
8. 0:18what our faith teaches Lyla Rose was
9. 0:20just one of the many speakers featured
10. 0:22at the Napa institute's annual summer
11. 0:24conference the Napa Institute gathers
12. 0:26some of the nation's greatest Catholic
13. 0:28lay and religious leaders for time of
14. 0:30formation discussing hot button issues
15. 0:32from a Catholic perspective I had the
16. 0:35opportunity to attend this year's
17. 0:37conference along with 700 other
18. 0:39attendees this year's theme what it
19. 0:41means to be human explored human dignity
20. 0:44from a variety of perspectives including
21. 0:46of course the pro-life perspective I did
22. 0:49have a chance to speak with lla rose
23. 0:51founder of live action and a pro-life
24. 0:53nonprofit aiming to expose the abortion
25. 0:55industry I asked her about her take on
26. 0:57today's political landscape
27. 1:01lla the reality of the pro-life movement
28. 1:04today is very different from two years
29. 1:05ago and I've asked you this question
30. 1:07before on the era but never now with
31. 1:09what we have in the political
32. 1:10environment today what are your feelings
33. 1:13about the pro-life movement post doobs
34. 1:16post the overturning of Ro versus Wade
35. 1:18well the overturning of roie Wade was a
36. 1:21tremendous Victory a tremendous
37. 1:24milestone for the movement but in many
38. 1:26ways it was the beginning of a new war a
39. 1:28fight that we knew was always coming
40. 1:30which was we have to change culture you
41. 1:32can get the opportunity to ban abortion
42. 1:34state by state but if the culture hasn't
43. 1:36been changed on life if people are
44. 1:38ignorant or confused or or hurting and
45. 1:40they're not connected to the resources
46. 1:42that they need then we're not going to
47. 1:44win this movement for life and so the
48. 1:46pro-life movement now in a way we're
49. 1:48just getting started and there's a ton
50. 1:50of work to do and there are some defeats
51. 1:52that we've had at the state level
52. 1:53politically but I'm really focused on
53. 1:54the culture that's what live action
54. 1:56focuses on because we need to change
55. 1:57hearts and Minds many people don't even
56. 1:59know what abortion really is they don't
57. 2:01know the sacredness of their own life or
58. 2:03of other lives they don't know all the
59. 2:05resources that exist for women who might
60. 2:07become pregnant and be struggling the
61. 2:09Pregnancy Resource Center is the amazing
62. 2:11organizations that exist to support them
63. 2:13so our job is to educate and help people
64. 2:16know the truth and then be that that
65. 2:18point of yes hard truth but also
66. 2:20encouragement and inspiration that there
67. 2:21is a better path here for women and for
68. 2:24our culture and that path is life do you
69. 2:26see that the conversation at least in
70. 2:28Congress um and the federal level has
71. 2:30opened up I guess at the state level too
72. 2:32has opened up a little bit more to talk
73. 2:34about resources for women in a way that
74. 2:36you couldn't do while row was in place I
75. 2:39think definitely a lot of especially if
76. 2:41you're a politician and you're pro-life
77. 2:43you need to be talking about that so
78. 2:45they're getting that memo I think to
79. 2:46some degree that they should be talking
80. 2:48about the thousands of Pregnancy
81. 2:49Resource Centers that exist and
82. 2:51politically we can be doing more to give
83. 2:53more uh cash credits I think for
84. 2:55children um better maternity and
85. 2:57paternity leave for families I think
86. 2:58there's more we can do to help American
87. 3:00families I think that should be the
88. 3:01focus of any pro-life politician in
89. 3:03addition to protecting life and banning
90. 3:05abortions I do think there are some
91. 3:07struggles that we're seeing right now in
92. 3:09the Republican Democrat parties where
93. 3:12unfortunately in many ways they're
94. 3:13moving I mean the Democrat Party has
95. 3:15already been very Pro abortion but the
96. 3:16Republican Party seems to be softening
97. 3:19on life and I think that's really the
98. 3:20wrong move politically first of all and
99. 3:22it's also very disappointing because the
100. 3:24reality is this is the time to fight
101. 3:26more than we ever have for life and to
102. 3:29not give up and to have a v a better
103. 3:31vision for the culture and so I'm hoping
104. 3:33that you know whatever fear that is
105. 3:34gripping a lot of politicians right now
106. 3:37as we double down in our educational
107. 3:38work our campaigning we can reinvigorate
108. 3:41not just culture but also politics down
109. 3:43the line let's talk about that a little
110. 3:44more that that announcement from the RNC
111. 3:46that they would weaken their platform on
112. 3:49life when that was such a winning issue
113. 3:51eight years ago not not just four eight
114. 3:53years ago it was really the winning
115. 3:55issue for them and the one that shifted
116. 3:57a lot of people who were reticent to
117. 3:59come out and vote for a figure like
118. 4:01President Trump um what are you seeing
119. 4:04as a reaction to that is the pro-life
120. 4:05movement being um vocal enough about
121. 4:09that disappointment it's a very good
122. 4:11question and I will say I understand you
123. 4:14know fellow compatriots and the prif
124. 4:16movement leaders that don't want to draw
125. 4:18attention to it quite frankly they don't
126. 4:20want to criticize you know the um
127. 4:23Republican you know nominee for
128. 4:24president president Trump or uh vice
129. 4:26president JD Vance now they don't want
130. 4:28to criticize because they are concerned
131. 4:30about the extremism from the
132. 4:31pro-abortion side on the de in the
133. 4:33Democratic party that is true the
134. 4:35Democratic party is absolutely more
135. 4:36pro-abortion than the Republican party
136. 4:38but the Republican party is softening
137. 4:40like you said and we need to be unafraid
138. 4:42listen our job as voters is not to give
139. 4:45undying loyalty without any demands to
140. 4:47one C party or another that's tribalism
141. 4:50our job is to vote our conscience our
142. 4:52job is to speak the truth even when it's
143. 4:55popular and unpopular and there is
144. 4:57something to be a a loyal opposition to
145. 4:59say listen you said you were pro-life
146. 5:01you said that you wanted to defend all
147. 5:03human life why are you compromising now
148. 5:05why are you supporting as an example
149. 5:06abortion pills uh you know now the Trump
150. 5:09B's ticket is in support of abortion
151. 5:11pills which are 60% of all us abortions
152. 5:13so it's our job to call that out we
153. 5:16still that doesn't mean we're going to
154. 5:17go vote for the Democrat side if you're
155. 5:19pro-life because there even more Pro
156. 5:20abortion all the way until birth but we
157. 5:22can't pretend like this is okay we have
158. 5:25to stand up for the truth and then work
159. 5:27really hard on education educating
160. 5:29people changing hearts and Minds on
161. 5:30abortion now JD Vance is someone who has
162. 5:32come on pro-life weekly and talked about
163. 5:35the importance of protecting women so
164. 5:36that they have a real Choice that's
165. 5:38actually something that he doubled down
166. 5:40on he said Pregnancy Resource Centers
167. 5:42all of the different things that you
168. 5:44could do this is when he was discussing
169. 5:45issue one in Ohio which unfortunately
170. 5:47was a a losing um Amendment for
171. 5:49protection for life in Ohio but he did
172. 5:52his best to really articulate a a
173. 5:56pro-life position that was fueled by his
174. 5:58conversion to the faith and his views on
175. 6:00human dignity he seems to have been
176. 6:03either convinced not to talk about it or
177. 6:06or convinced to shift his
178. 6:08position how can we encourage people who
179. 6:12do have a strong pro-life stance to
180. 6:14continue to carry it into their Politics
181. 6:16as they rise in the ranks we they need
182. 6:19to hear from us if we don't say anything
183. 6:22about the fact that yes JD Vance who's a
184. 6:25you know convert converted Catholic here
185. 6:27he has campaigned on life for and if we
186. 6:30don't say anything about the fact that
187. 6:31he's now saying he supports abortion
188. 6:33pills he's going to think that's okay as
189. 6:35a politician and we need to say no it's
190. 6:36not okay we want you to succeed we want
191. 6:39you to do what's right we want to back
192. 6:41you but you can't go back the killing of
193. 6:43pre-born children in the first trimester
194. 6:44V your abortion pills you can't it's
195. 6:46unacceptable so I think we need to we
196. 6:47need to speak up I think that's the job
197. 6:49of Voters to speak up a lot of people
198. 6:51miss that continuity between the idea of
199. 6:54the first trimester and abortion pills
200. 6:56and surgical abortions they they think
201. 6:58one is worse than the other um how are
202. 7:01you trying to inform people about that
203. 7:03that line where if you if you're Pro one
204. 7:05and or against one and not against the
205. 7:08other you you are not educating the
206. 7:10culture you're not actually making the
207. 7:11significant shift I think we're buying
208. 7:13into the abortion industry's lies to
209. 7:15pretend like there's a distinction when
210. 7:16there there's not a distinction one is a
211. 7:18chemical pill that basically kills the
212. 7:20baby via starvation and a forc
213. 7:22miscarriage the other one is a technical
214. 7:24uh procedure that rips a baby into
215. 7:26pieces I mean they're both horrific they
216. 7:28both kill the same baby so the reality
217. 7:30is abortion pill is indistinguishable
218. 7:32morally speaking from the surgical
219. 7:34abortion procedure so I think we just
220. 7:36have to educate on this because again
221. 7:38the opposition will want us to think
222. 7:39that oh it's just like a a period it's
223. 7:41not even an abortion it's not taking a
224. 7:43life and they'll succeed in their lives
225. 7:45if we don't set the record straight what
226. 7:47about in terms of trauma to the woman a
227. 7:48lot of people forget um the that deep
228. 7:51deep deep wound we do talk about it in
229. 7:53terms of surgical abortion we talk about
230. 7:55it in terms of miscarriage frankly as
231. 7:57well which does happen earlier most of
232. 7:58the time in pregnancy
233. 8:00but we don't talk about it in terms of
234. 8:01abortion pills the abortion pill is
235. 8:03incredibly traumatic we just did a whole
236. 8:05series actually using the voices of
237. 8:07women who've endured abortion pills and
238. 8:09the physical and emotional risks that
239. 8:11come with it for them uh it lands women
240. 8:13in the emergency room it's killed women
241. 8:14it's killed over a dozen women the
242. 8:16abortion pill uh it's something that is
243. 8:18incredibly traumatic for them they're
244. 8:20bleeding sometimes for weeks on ends in
245. 8:22their own homes so yeah education is key
246. 8:24and to say listen there is help for you
247. 8:27for any woman who's facing anex ected
248. 8:29pregnancy there is help there is
249. 8:30resources and support and let's make
250. 8:32sure that that she gets that so she
251. 8:33never feels like she has to turn to the
252. 8:35abortion industry let's talk about the
253. 8:38Democrats the strategy with kamla Harris
254. 8:42as the new nominee she has been going
255. 8:45state by State campus by campus talking
256. 8:47about abortion since before she launched
257. 8:49her campaign it seems a little bit like
258. 8:52they are forcing the conversation around
259. 8:54abortion and opponents or any of their
260. 8:57potential political Rivals are afraid to
261. 8:59to have the Democrat conversation what
262. 9:01can you tell us about uh vice president
263. 9:03Harris's stance on abortion a few things
264. 9:06that you should know she's the first
265. 9:07candidate to actually and nvp now um
266. 9:10candidate for president to have toured
267. 9:12an abortion clinic as part of her
268. 9:14campaign and part of her position as VP
269. 9:16to say oh this is so great what they're
270. 9:18doing here she literally physically went
271. 9:19to an abortion clinic and toured it as
272. 9:21some sort of a press event to celebrate
273. 9:22abortion she's invited abortionist to
274. 9:24the White House she was the one who raid
275. 9:26pro-life journalist for selling for
276. 9:28exposing the of baby body parts in
277. 9:30California she raided their homes on
278. 9:32behalf of Planned Parenthood while she
279. 9:33was accepting campaign dollars from
280. 9:35Planned Parenthood very corrupt and she
281. 9:37tried to prosecute Pregnancy Resource
282. 9:39Centers when she was the Attorney
283. 9:40General of California for uh being
284. 9:44pro-life not wanting to post abortion
285. 9:47ads in their pro-life centers which is
286. 9:49what she wanted them to do so it's
287. 9:51extraordinary how pro-abortion comma
288. 9:53Harris is and it would be devastating if
289. 9:55she became the president for the
290. 9:56pre-born and the cause for the pre-born
291. 9:58when we think about um marriage and the
292. 10:01family and the the way that the family
293. 10:03unit is is crumbling in America today
294. 10:06with abortion as the front and center
295. 10:09issue that she's campaigning for do you
296. 10:11think vice president Harris is incapable
297. 10:14of then creating policies that bolster
298. 10:16the family and protect the family I
299. 10:18think that her policies would be very
300. 10:19anti- family by default she's very
301. 10:21pro-abortion and you know I think the
302. 10:23left platform on family is the vision of
303. 10:25family is not the correct vision the
304. 10:27vision of family is whatever adults want
305. 10:29to adopt or create kids via inv vitro
306. 10:31they should have them uh children are
307. 10:33not their innocence is not protected
308. 10:34promoting the lgbtq plus ideology and to
309. 10:38young people in schools it's very
310. 10:40dangerous for families so I think we
311. 10:41have to fight back against that ideology
312. 10:43and that promotion of it in politics via
313. 10:45Harris and others there's a rumor or a
314. 10:49um Trope that many politicians like to
315. 10:52use which is I'm not trying to tell you
316. 10:54to do anything with your religion I'm
317. 10:56not trying to impose anything on your
318. 10:57religion I just want you to leave me
319. 10:58alone so that I can have abortions have
320. 11:01transgender surgeries Etc it's not about
321. 11:03me imposing anything on you it's about
322. 11:05you imposing something on me but the
323. 11:07rise in religious freedom issues and
324. 11:09religious freedom claims over the last
325. 11:1110 years and the inability of anyone to
326. 11:14partner with the federal government and
327. 11:16use federal dollars which are taxpayers
328. 11:18from both sides of the aisle to help in
329. 11:21healthcare help in in anything Pregnancy
330. 11:22Resources centers being front center one
331. 11:24of them that threat to to religion and
332. 11:28to religious freedom and to anyone who
333. 11:29believes differently is significant have
334. 11:31you seen that change that shift I mean
335. 11:33it's a it's a it's a convoluted argument
336. 11:36to say that you're pushing a religion on
337. 11:37me when you are the one who's promoting
338. 11:40gender ideology and abortion you can
339. 11:42oppose gender ideology and abortion
340. 11:44simply from common sense it has nothing
341. 11:45to do with some divine revelation that a
342. 11:48religion or a person believes that they
343. 11:50receive in fact it's very clear when you
344. 11:52look at the science of when life begins
345. 11:55that life begins before birth and to end
346. 11:57a life before birth is violating the
347. 11:59basic principle of right a right that
348. 12:02they have to live of the human right to
349. 12:04life which is the first right and when
350. 12:05it comes to gender ideology the science
351. 12:07is very clear when you have you know an
352. 12:09XX or an XY chromosome you have a
353. 12:11biological male or a biological female
354. 12:13they are male or they are female and you
355. 12:15know a gender dysphoria that they may
356. 12:18have a mental condition that they may
357. 12:19have doesn't change the biological
358. 12:21reality and for us to play ultimately
359. 12:25unscientific games I believe that what
360. 12:27they're representing with gender
361. 12:28ideology The Cult of abortion it is its
362. 12:30own religion to say that I can kill if I
363. 12:33want to and I can change my gender if I
364. 12:36want to that that doesn't uh go off of
365. 12:40science common sense that is almost an
366. 12:41invention that is an invention and so if
367. 12:44anything they are inventing a religion
368. 12:46that is nonsensical that is harmful to
369. 12:48the human person and then they're
370. 12:49blaming common sense for being some sort
371. 12:51of a religion when no this is simply
372. 12:53common sense that anyone could can
373. 12:56see anyone who is watching the unfolding
374. 13:00of this new political reality these kind
375. 13:02of Firsts a lot of Firsts the first time
376. 13:04that you have a in a very very long time
377. 13:06that you have an assassination attempt
378. 13:08against a candidate and then a week
379. 13:09later you have this announcement that a
380. 13:11sitting president is stepping down and
381. 13:13not running um in a campaign three weeks
382. 13:16before sorry three months before you
383. 13:18really you really have to make a
384. 13:20decision um how do and do individuals in
385. 13:25the pro-life movement and Catholics in
386. 13:26particular discern their vote what are
387. 13:28the parameters for that discernment I
388. 13:31mean we're living in incredible times
389. 13:32like you just said an assassination
390. 13:33attempt uh the sitting president who had
391. 13:37denomination is now just stepping out
392. 13:39and handing it to his VP or trying to
393. 13:41hand it to his VP uh I think there are a
394. 13:44few principles that we can always look
395. 13:45to as Catholics number one we have to
396. 13:48always vote our conscience and we may
397. 13:50have an inspiration you know the Holy
398. 13:52Spirit I think is speaking to his people
399. 13:53right now to inspire people to take
400. 13:55prophetic stance so always vote your
401. 13:57conscience number two
402. 13:59sometimes we have to vote or we may be
403. 14:01called to vote for the lesser of two
404. 14:03evils uh unfortunately we're dealing
405. 14:05with that right now in today's election
406. 14:07because you have the the Democratic
407. 14:08party which is extremely pro-abortion we
408. 14:10talked about the record of kamla Harris
409. 14:12which is I mean at landish pro-abortion
410. 14:14she she tours abortion clinics she
411. 14:16persecutes pro-life people and then you
412. 14:19have the record of trump which yes as
413. 14:21president he did some pro-life things
414. 14:23and we should celebrate that but now he
415. 14:25is campaigning on a partially
416. 14:27pro-abortion platform he's saying that
417. 14:29abortions in the first trimester are
418. 14:31okay there's these exceptions for
419. 14:32abortions that are okay so I think many
420. 14:35candidates many voters will look at the
421. 14:36candidates and say okay I have to say
422. 14:38what is the lesser of two evils here
423. 14:40with my vote and I think that can be a
424. 14:42very prudent way to move forward that
425. 14:44being said I do think we need to make
426. 14:45our voices heard as people of Faith to
427. 14:48say we want leaders that are not perfect
428. 14:51no one is perfect but leaders that will
429. 14:53stand for the truth and stand for human
430. 14:55rights and stand for what's best for
431. 14:57this country and abort abortion is not
432. 14:59best for this country abortion is not
433. 15:01for human rights abortion is not uh the
434. 15:04killing of a child there's no there's no
435. 15:06truth behind it's okay to kill a child
436. 15:08that's not standing for a truth it's
437. 15:09standing for a lie and so we should urge
438. 15:11our candidates to have decency to have
439. 15:15truthfulness and say that we want you to
440. 15:17do that if you want us to rally for you
441. 15:19if you want us to campaign for you you
442. 15:20need to stand up in the truth in terms
443. 15:23of federal elections I think that we've
444. 15:25really run the gamut but at the state
445. 15:28level you have six or
446. 15:29seven potential state level
447. 15:32constitutions that might shift with
448. 15:34ballot initiatives
449. 15:36and Governor Dan santis has been pretty
450. 15:39pretty gung-ho saying that he wants that
451. 15:40to be a big win in Florida he wants to
452. 15:42protect life in Florida there are a
453. 15:43couple of others who have said the same
454. 15:45um and some who have said the opposite
455. 15:48what is it that people can do to bolster
456. 15:51the state level reality and their local
457. 15:53reality knowing that the federal reality
458. 15:55probably will not be one that reflects
459. 15:57protection we need to get out and and
460. 16:00mobilized if you're in one of the states
461. 16:01where there might be a ballot initiative
462. 16:03on life in your state you need to be
463. 16:04mobilized here's the thing the
464. 16:06opposition is pouring tens of millions
465. 16:08of dollars mon say into these abortion
466. 16:11elections in the midterms and then in
467. 16:12some of these State ballot referendums
468. 16:14they are pouring tens of millions up to
469. 16:16the hundreds of millions of dollars into
470. 16:18these things with pro-abortion lies
471. 16:20pro-abortion campaigning we need to
472. 16:22respond we need to be out there every
473. 16:24single voice every single comment on
474. 16:26social media every single post every
475. 16:27single letter letter to the Ed editor
476. 16:29every single call to your local uh
477. 16:31lawmaker it makes a difference it will
478. 16:34be a self-fulfilling prophecy from the
479. 16:37pro-abortion side if they say well life
480. 16:39doesn't win in an election and the
481. 16:41pro-lifers or the pro-life politicians
482. 16:42are just quiet because they say oh life
483. 16:44doesn't win in an election well it won't
484. 16:45win if we don't try now you're a mom
485. 16:49you're a leader in the pro-life movement
486. 16:51obviously you're a woman and we are
487. 16:53looking at potentially the first ever
488. 16:55female president of the United States
489. 16:57should vice president Harris win the
490. 16:58ntion and win the election who would be
491. 17:00Pro abortion is there such thing as
492. 17:03feminism without abortion of course I
493. 17:06mean the early feminists who were many
494. 17:08of them Christian very pro- family women
495. 17:11many of them were pro-life and this idea
496. 17:14that to be proman is to be anti our
497. 17:17superpower as women to bring life into
498. 17:19the world I think it is so offensive to
499. 17:22women it's so denigrating of us as women
500. 17:25you know what is so unique and different
501. 17:27about a woman from a man is that we can
502. 17:29be mothers and Men alone can be fathers
503. 17:31and so we should be nourishing that
504. 17:33celebrating that not every woman is
505. 17:34called to be a biological mother many
506. 17:36women I believe are called to be uh
507. 17:38emotional or spiritual mothers I think
508. 17:40that's a very powerful thing that women
509. 17:41alone can do and we should celebrate
510. 17:44that a feminism that rejects the core of
511. 17:47what it means to be feminine woman
512. 17:49motherhood is an empty and broken
513. 17:52feminism that can never it can never
514. 17:54actually create future uh followers
515. 17:57because there's no there's no uh there's
516. 17:59no longevity to that but if we I think
517. 18:01are unabashed and saying you know the
518. 18:03best woman the best vision of a woman is
519. 18:06a woman who in her full maturity and her
520. 18:07leadership and her strength can now go
521. 18:09on and help others and give back as she
522. 18:12was given to I think that's the way of
523. 18:14the future that's the only way we're
524. 18:16going to move forward as a country and
525. 18:18and that is an authentic
526. 18:20feminism to hear more of Lyla Rose's
527. 18:22commentary on a variety of pro-life
528. 18:24issues like this one you can listen to
529. 18:26her podcast now streaming on demand on
530. 18:29EWTN and on the EWTN app or wherever you
531. 18:32listen to your podcasts visit on demand.
532. 18:35ewtn.com
533. 18:37[Music]