Toronto March for LifeI don’t remember the first time I learned about abortion, but I do remember becoming increasingly aware of groups that were working to combat it. I remember picking up brochures in the back of churches to take home. I’d collect these brochures and newspaper articles and keep them in a yellow folder. I don’t know what I intended to do with this folder and its contents, but even then, back in elementary school, I knew this was important information and it seemed like something worth saving.
The more I learned about abortion, the more convicted and invested I became. It was hard (and still is) to fully comprehend how many children have been killed through abortion. But that was only part of it.
Abortion was different from other injustices like poverty or homelessness, because most people didn’t think abortion was a problem to begin with. Abortion wasn’t just an issue to fight, we had to first convince people it was worth fighting for.
I knew something was being done about it and there were groups doing good work (changing minds, supporting pro-life politicians, and caring for pregnant women in need) but I didn’t understand why (from my view at the time) we weren’t making a bigger impact. Being older and wiser, I can now see how complex it is to bring social reform and I know that change often comes slowly.
When I first looked to get involved in pro-life work, I had no experience. I hadn’t even been to a March for Life. I had just finished high school and didn’t know what skills I could offer a pro-life group, but I was sure some group out there could use some man-power. Eventually I found CCBR.
Stephanie Gray presented to me and group of about 50 young adults, and then asked us to consider doing an internship with CCBR. I wasn’t highly educated or an extravert that was great at talking to people (which you might imagine every activist to be), but I had my head, my hands, and my heart, and that’s what they were looking for.
Since that internship I have seen that change really is possible, it just takes a lot of hard work. That’s what keeps me here. Even if I don’t change our whole country, every time I speak to someone I know that I have impacted them and maybe even the lives of their future children.
If you had seen me as a child, shy, quiet, and never wanting to stir the pot, you likely wouldn’t have pegged me as a future activist. But here I am, and I thank God for it.
