The new face of the pro-life movement

From the Western Catholic Reporter:

OTTAWA — When Lia Mills gave a speech on abortion to her seventh grade Toronto class two years ago, she never expected it to go viral on YouTube.

Rebecca Richmond intended to bake cookies to support her university pro-life group. She never thought she would become the group's leader and eventually the executive director of the National Campus Life Network, mentoring leaders across the country.

When Mills, 14, chose to talk about abortion, her teacher told her the subject was too big and too controversial and suggested she find another. When Mills said she must talk about abortion, her teacher told her she would be eliminated from an upcoming speech contest if she spoke about abortion in front of the class.

Mills went ahead and her teacher decided to allow her into the speech contest as long as she took out one sentence that made reference to God.

Since God originally told me to do the topic on abortion, how could I take him out? she told the International Pro-Life Conference here recently. The teacher relented.

During the contest, "one of the judges stepped down and refused to listen," Mills said.

But that reaction paled in comparison to what followed. A videotape of her speech on YouTube drew "so much backlash and opposition," that online comments included death threats, and negative remarks about her faith and her family. The video has received one million views.

SPIRITUAL BATTLE

"I was stepping into a spiritual battle I was not aware of," she said.

More here.

The picture shows Rebecca Richmond (left) and Lia Mills at the International Pro-Life Conference here in Ottawa Oct. 29.