Why Ending Roe Wasn’t Enough for the Pro-Life Movement
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What is the focus of the pro-life movement after Roe v. Wade?
From New York Times Opinion, I'm Ross Douthat, and this is Interesting Times.
How does Lila Rose describe her activism with Live Action?
This week, we're bringing you something a little bit different. Last month, I spoke with the pro-life activist Lila Rose in front of a live audience at the Catholic University of America. We were there to talk about the future of the pro-life movement, and the students in attendance had a lot of questions. My question has to do with the collapse of marriage.
What is the S.L.E.D. argument in pro-life advocacy?
I wanted to ask about IVF and specifically how we should go about resolving that. The fundamental question is when does life begin?
I wanted to ask about, I guess, the future of the pro-life movement. And I had my own questions, too. Was the pro-life movement really prepared for the fall of Roe v. Wade? Is Donald Trump actually a pro-life president? And in a society that's rapidly polarizing along gender lines, what does the pro-life movement have to say to young women in particular? We got into those and many other subjects.
What critiques does Lila Rose have regarding feminism and abortion?
So here's my conversation with Lila Rose.
Thank you.
Lila Rose, welcome to this stage at Catholic University, and welcome to Interesting Times.
Thank you so much. I'm thrilled to be here, both for Catholic University and the interesting times that we're in.
That's right. And we're here to discuss the politics of abortion, the position of the pro-life movement a few years after Roe v. Wade was overturned. I want to know what you think the pro-life future looks like here in the second Trump administration. But since this is a podcast, I'm going to start by asking you a little bit about your own biography.
How does the political landscape affect the pro-life movement?
So you're the founder of Live Action, a pro-life organization, and you founded it when you were 15 years old. Correct. So what was Live Action at the beginning when you didn't have your driver's license yet?
Well, because I didn't have my driver's license, it was a group of other 15 year olds, maybe some 16 year olds in my parents' living room, fellow students. And we were determined to just make a difference of some kind about abortion because I became very convicted that this was the human rights issue of our day. And I had found this book in my parents' home, which had basically the history since Roe v. Wade and before that of abortion in America. It had images of fetal development, and it also had images of abortion victims. And I was just very compelled that I needed to do something about the issue because I had never heard it talked about in my church growing up. I was raised evangelical. I rarely heard it talked about anywhere else.
My parents were pro-life, but they were not activists.
Where did you grow up?
San Jose, California. Okay. So early Silicon Valley days, my dad was in software programming and we were very much just, you know, in some ways a normal family, in other ways not. I'm one of eight kids, so we were pro-life. They were living the pro-life conviction very beautifully by having so many kids. But all that to say, I thought, okay, there's 3,000 abortions a day. This has been legal since before I was born. I find out there's a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic committing abortions up to 24 weeks.
What challenges does the pro-life movement face beyond politics?
within 10 miles of where I grew up. And no one seemed to say or do anything about it. And so I said, I want to do something. I was interested in a lot of other causes. I was a normal kid, otherwise doing, trying to get through high school.
What is the significance of the medical 'zone of uncertainty' in abortion discussions?
But I thought I got to do something. And that was the origin of live action.
So I think the point at which you came to national prominence was a little bit later when you were in college, right? And you became famous for basically going undercover at Planned Parenthood. What were you doing in those days?
Well, freshman at UCLA, and I was inspired to do more pro-life activism, started Live Action UCLA.
Why should women consider being pro-life according to Lila Rose?
And so Planned Parenthood was at the time especially seen as this great organization serving women's health care. People didn't really understand it's the biggest abortion chain that they're providing abortions, which end human lives. And so that inspired me to say, I want to expose this.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the focus of the pro-life movement after Roe v. Wade?
0:02–0:25
2
How does Lila Rose describe her activism with Live Action?
0:25–0:46
3
What is the S.L.E.D. argument in pro-life advocacy?
0:46–1:19
4
What critiques does Lila Rose have regarding feminism and abortion?
1:19–2:03
5
How does the political landscape affect the pro-life movement?
2:03–3:35
6
What challenges does the pro-life movement face beyond politics?
3:35–3:47
7
What is the significance of the medical 'zone of uncertainty' in abortion discussions?
3:47–4:16
8
Why should women consider being pro-life according to Lila Rose?
4:16–1:01:32
Speakers
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