The following video is by Lia who is only 12 years old. She gave this speech to her 7th grade class. Are the public figures emerging?
Generation Y, my generation, is much more pro life than Generation X and the Baby Boomer generation. I can’t wait for the male baby boomer pro-life establishment to be augmented and replaced by young women.
From a public speaking standpoint I want to point out some observations.
- Lia has a great original introduction that grabs your attention and sets up the rest of the talk.
- Lia uses short stories to impact her argument.
- Lia doesn’t get bogged down in citing sources although she could briefly mention a few more particularly right before her statistical barrage towards the end.
- Lia kept her message short. If this talk were 10 minutes long she may have only received a few thousand views. As it is it has already received over 500k views.
- Lia could have impacted the numbers a bit more. She shares a few statistics and the millions tend to get lost.What is the difference between 10 million and 45 million. Without impact they are both just big numbers.
- Lia is authentic. This video would not have been as powerful if delivered by a 12 year old boy.
- Lia is passionate without sounding extreme.
- Lia is cute. Her attractiveness fosters attention. Conservatives often overlook the importance of physical appearance in the arena of ideas. We prefer hard facts and cold reason. We get defeated by good looking actors who tell stories. Is it stupid? Sure. But its how the world works.
- Lia stays focused on the main point and does not get distracted on side issues.
Those are my thoughts on the video. What do you think?
Hey Thomas,
I just saved a link from yahoo on the same subject planning a post on my site. Thanks for saving me time 🙂
I am always sad when watching these type of messages because I know my own skepticism and mistrust of statistics, mostly because of overuse or lack of accurate perspective they are based on. Also because of the subject, many people tune out quickly because their mind is already made up. Keeping it short, and the other advantages you pointed out, is great… but it isn't enough, sadly.
The other reason these videos make me sad is of thinking how close my very own son was to being a statistic. My wife and I met his birth parents who, by God's grace, couldn't afford an abortion. He is 3 1/2 now and an energetic, trusting, loving… and smarter than every other kid at his age (Insert challenging scowl at anyone who disagrees).
I don't know if this is a 'wider' objective, but my pastor made available "empty envelopes" with a short letter attached to mail to Obama by March 31st. The letter explains that the envelope represents one of the many voices that have been silenced by abortion. I will also send an envelope from my son, because I am thankful he has a voice.
I am willing to argue case-by-case the 1% Lia mentions. A large majority of the other 99% is using abortion as convenient birth control, and that is wrong. Hiding from that wrongness by arguing when life begins is rationalization and is wrong. If any reader has had an abortion, forgive yourself and move on. Don't lie to yourself and others that it wasn't a baby yet.
Wow! This is an amazing speech! She is so eloquent and so young! EVERYONE needs to hear this speech!
Unfortunately she is just 12 and has no life experience. What will be come of her when she sees her friends pregnant, unwed,. Women who do not want to give birth have always and wil always seek abortion. The question is do we criminalize it. The anwer is no. Abortion remains legal. That is what pro-choice is really about, not pro-abortion. As a pro-choice person, I think we should get to the reason why women choose abortion. I have two children, As a mother, I could not imagine giving a child I had given birth away for adoption. I have freinds who have adopted children, every time I look at them I think of the mother who gave them away–what was she thinking…
Here is a new group (that I recently made up) that we should all support. The Pro-LifeChoice Group. It isn't about defending the right to choose or about preserving every possible life at all costs. It is about reality and what to do about it. Some of the big talkers of both sides of the abortion debate are misleading people on purpose because they care more about keeping score on who wins this battle. God will protect a soul He has plans for, but He did not mean for life to be taken for granted. A new life is a beautiful thing and abortion should not be used as birth control for irresponsible life choices. When/If Lia's friends get pregnant, how is society preparing them to be adults by teaching them to erase mistakes and pretend there are no consequences in life?
*I* met the birth mother and father of my son. They are good kids, but were not right for each other and the mother was not mature enough to raise a baby. An abortion can not be undone. The guilt and regret may never go away. We haven't reached the point of telling our son about being adopted and it will be hard when the time comes but IF he or his birth parents feel there is a hole to fill, they will be able to do that. The birth parents can rest easy that their child was given a better home and life than they could provide and have no guilt from the irreversible decision of abortion. Many pro-choicers want to emphasize the horror of surviving giving birth and how unforgivable giving a baby away is, so therefore abortion must be the only acceptable choice, and they want to avoid admitting that LIFE is being stopped. It is what it is. In some cases, it may very well be the right choice. In others, abortion may be pressured by the grandparents but not be the right choice for the actual mother. There are many fears of the challenges of parenthood that are no different than other parts of "growing up" and dealing with the world. Many parents find it was worth it.
Side note: I would not be disappointed to see abortion done away with completely, but in reality from where society currently is, I think it should be at least severely limited in its use and the real causes of so many unwanted pregnancies be the focus, and in no circumstances can women expect to be allowed to keep the decision between her and her doctor, but as a security blanket require men to financial support the decision with no choice in the matter.