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In a speech challenging the abortion industry and its portrayals in today’s mainstream culture, pro-life activist Lila Rose, president of Live Action, criticized the “system” that has been “set up against women, not to empower us but to hurt us.”
“Abortion has been sold to us as empowerment,” Rose said, speaking Friday to a gathering of the Conservative Women’s Network at The Heritage Foundation. She addressed the “war on women” rhetoric used against conservative candidates for office, calling it a lie perpetuated by Planned Parenthood and affiliated organizations that would rather convince women that abortion is not only “empowering” but “necessary.”
Live Action became known for undercover videos revealing what Rose calls “ethical violations” prevalent in abortion clinics run by Planned Parenthood across the country. The videos, which have appeared on platforms as big as Fox News Channel, have played a key role in the greater effort to change the hearts and minds of the American public about abortion on demand, Rose said.
Polling shows that although “the majority of Americans consider themselves pro-life to some degree,” they are more inclined to believe that pro-choice peers outnumber pro-life ones.
Rose’s remarks came just days after the one-year anniversary marking the beginning of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s murder trial. Following his conviction, Gosnell is serving a life sentence in prison.
A survey conducted by the American Life League found that Planned Parenthood has the lowest number of clinics and geographic areas since the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.
Although Planned Parenthood “opened 13 new facilities in 2013,” the report noted, it closed 48 and the overall number “has fallen from a high of 938 locations in 1995 . . . to 695 today.”
Rose recalled the words of Mother Teresa, who said in a lecture that abortion is the world’s “greatest destroyer of peace.” Identifying abortion as a matter of human rights, Rose called for greater educational efforts that bring stories and images of abortion victims to the forefront.
“When you hide the victim,” she said, “it’s easy for the atrocity to continue.”
This story was produced by The Foundry’s news team. Nothing here should be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation.
