In an interview released February 19, Jim Daly, President of Focus on the Family, and Kristan Hawkins, President of Students for Life of America, discuss the important work of changing hearts and minds to save the lives of preborn babies.
Students for Life is an organization that focuses primarily on educating and activating high school and college-age students as advocates for life on their campuses, online, and in their communities.
Speaking to the impact Focus on the Family has in promoting the sanctity of human life, Hawkins told Daly,
Focus is so critical for what we do, and I want to thank you.
Hawkins shared that she first learned about abortion from a church bulletin insert that Focus on the Family produced when she was a teenager. Hawkins continued,
You all have been doing this for 40-plus years, and the legacy you guys have had [for life] is spread out across America.
In response to a question about what inspired Hawkins to become a strong voice for the pro-life movement, Hawkins told Daly that during high school, she volunteered at a pro-life women’s center in Ohio, which changed her perspective. She heard stories from women firsthand and saw that abortion wasn’t a great solution for the difficult circumstances these women faced. Abortion was only a band-aid that only appeared to solve their problems.
Students for Life is in its 18th year of changing hearts and minds for life and is impacting more young people than ever before.
When asked about why Hawkins chose to focus on youth, especially when the youth tend to have views that are more likely to support abortion, she said,
When you look at the history of social reform movements in our country [you see that] in order to have great cultural change take effect, you have to win over a generation of young people.
She continued,
I know that there’s nothing greater I can do than to build this generation up.
Hawkins told Daly in the last 18 years of building leaders through Students for Life, there are now tens of thousands of graduated students for life who are running pregnancy centers, starting maternity homes, working for members of Congress, running for office, and even serving as elected pro-life lawmakers.
Hawkins confidently predicts,
This is the generation that’s going to achieve the full mission of the pro-life movement — to end abortion. To make it unthinkable and unavailable. That’s going to be this generation’s legacy.
Hawkins says one of the most critical aspects of the Students for Life mission is starting conversations about abortion on campuses. And the group has a metric for measuring its success. Hawkins states, “We measure our conversations. We measure our conversion. We had a 10% conversion rate last semester on campus. It’s fantastic.”
In the interview, Daly and Hawkins discuss her Q&A sessions and debates with students on campus, and how she prays before she steps into those conversations. She shares the one thing that makes a difference between life and death for babies and individual stories of college women who found a supportive community and chose life for their babies. She also talks about Students for Life’s new campaign called Abortion Free Cities, the dangers of the abortion pill, and insights for advancing the cause for life in post-Roe America.
To hear the interview in its entirety, listen to Focus on the Family’s Broadcast, Changing Minds to Save the Pre-Born.
To learn more about the great work of Students for Life of America, visit https://studentsforlife.org/.
Focus on the Family has a very special ministry to save babies and their mothers from the tragedy of abortion.
The Option Ultrasound Program equips pregnancy resource centers across the nation with ultrasound machines to give mothers considering abortion the opportunity to see their child in the womb.
Since 2004, the Option Ultrasound has saved half a million lives! Will you partner with us to save a life from abortion here?
If you are experiencing an unexpected pregnancy and want to learn more about your options, visit My Choice Network.
We’re here when you need someone to talk to about your baby or whatever else you’re going through. Please reach out. Call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.