The 2024 Pro-Life Summit was an excellent day of inspiration, fellowship, and education! Nearly 200 people from all over the state came together to learn what are the current next steps for moms and babies in Louisiana and beyond.
Our keynote speaker, Rebekah Hagan, was incredibly impactful! She astounded us with her illustration of going through a teen pregnancy and a second pregnancy where she began the abortion pill process, all while in a pro-life Christian home. Thankfully, she was able to reverse the process and save her baby. She emphasized the importance of an open conversation in the home about this issue, since the abortion pills are so widely available to young girls even in Louisiana! We are so excited that she will be speaking to several Louisiana high schools throughout this coming Fall.
In-between sessions, attendees enjoyed perusing our printed resources on various pro-life topics, materials that help spread the word on help for moms and babies, give-aways like t-shirts and trendy stickers, information on our youth programs, and a number of other pro-life organizations. Our large, artistic exposition that is set up on college campuses throughout the school year was also built in the conference foyer for viewing.
During the day we had two engaging panels, one about church-focused resources and the other about Louisiana policy and public opinion. We discussed how churches can continue to fill in the gap for women’s and family resources. Particularly, hearing the expertise at which Deacon Randall Waguespack is showing in his pursuit of a better Walking with Moms in Need program strategy throughout the Catholic Diocese of Baton Rouge. Pastor Gene Mills with Louisiana Family Forum shared advice on connecting with Pastors on the pro-life issue and getting them legislatively involved. Pastor Mike and Lady Tara Wicker shared their integral connection-making with churches who have hesitancy with the abortion issue due to racial and political divides. They covered how they unite efforts with these churches on supply drives and holistic help for moms and babies and then walk through the dignity of their lives, following through to how their dignity should be respected from the beginning.
During the second panel, attendees were enlightened on how public opinion is dangerously sliding backward from being a strong pro-life Louisiana, and across the country as is evident in all of the pro-abortion amendment campaigns that are winning. We proposed ways that everyone can contribute to emboldening public opinion in a pro-life direction, and dove into how pro-life people should continue to fight against the ever-increasing availability of illegal abortion pills online and sold on the streets in our state. We walked through how much of our legislation this past 2024 session addressed this; particularly, the Abortion by Fraud Act which was introduced because of a situation where a husband tricked his wife into taking the pills, dissolved in water. More about this story at ProLifeLouisiana.org/sb276
And finally, Ashley Gilliam the Director of Education for Louisiana Right to Life gave a pro-life persuasion training and walked through many of the takes that pro-abortion advocates bring up and how to listen compassionately, logically bring them through a new thought process on abortion is still wrong in the situation they bring up, and fruitfully walk through showing how the unborn baby is biologically and philosophically a human being with equal rights. She also made excellent points about approaching the conversation about bodily autonomy. Get Ashley to come speak for your church!
Thank you to everyone who came, and thank you to all of our sponsors who made the day possible:
