July 8, 2024
At the most recent National Celebrate Life Weekend in Washington D.C., Students for Life Action (SFLAction) took time to recognize some of the pro-life champions and legislators who stood out and went above and beyond as shining examples of what it means to defend preborn life in law and service.
SFLAction President Kristan Hawkins delivered remarks, which outlined the criteria for what it means to be a pro-life champion – and how we determined whether someone was worthy of being recognized as such. A brief recap of Kristan’s remarks from this awards event are below:
“At Students for Life Action we teach fidelity to the pro-life movement, not a party or politician. We inspire the pro-life movement through authenticity. We’re honoring legislators from just a handful of states today that are authentic champions – and they all acted in a manner to aggressively put the pro-life movement first, setting the direction we need.
But it’s important to note FIRST what they did not do:
They didn’t go along to get along.
They didn’t decide to meet pro-abortion colleagues halfway and sacrifice some preborn babies on the altar of expediency.
They didn’t pull their punches and “agree to disagree.”
They understand, as you all do, that this is a battle over the human rights issue of our day, and there should be no compromising away of the lives of preborn babies to appease the squishiest members of the Republican caucus.
They had political courage, filing bills, pressing on regardless of what leadership wanted.
They stood up for constituents and preborn babies – not Team R or for accolades in the press.
They are all deserving of being called Pro-Life Champions, which isn’t a designation that we give lightly.
A pro-life champion is someone who digs their heels into the ground to push back against the status quo in order to defend the preborn.
Our pro-life champions, those here today, and so many others file strong legislation like the Life at Conception Act, Chemical Abortion Prevention Bills, and Heartbeat bills. They force recorded votes even when their colleagues are screaming at them in closed door meetings, even if they start out as the only one at the state capital determined to protect the preborn, and even if it means risking their seats.”
Among those honored were:
- West Virginia State Sen. Patricia Rucker for her work to advance legislation that would end the trafficking of dangerous Chemical Abortion Pills and hold abortion pill companies accountable for polluting our food and water with the tainted remains of preborn babies flushed down the toilet. Senator Rucker was honored for challenging West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair, exposing his role in watering down pro-life legislation, which eventually led to his defeat in the May 2024 Republican primary.
- Oklahoma Reps. Jim Olsen, Sen. Nathan Dahm, and Denise Crosswhite Hader who helped pass a bill to stop the trafficking of dangerous Chemical Abortion Pills in Oklahoma through the House of Representatives. Senator Dahm forced a roll call on the bill in the Senate, to bring it to the floor and determine which senators were opposing its advancement behind closed doors, so pro-life voters could act. Using this vote, Students for Life Action was able to educate voters leading to the defeat of Senator Greg McCortney, who had blocked the bill, and was in line to be the next Senate leader.
- Pennsylvania Reps. Aaron Bernstine and Joe D’Orsie who, as part of a multi-year fight, worked with SFLAction to stop the legislature from funding the University of Pittsburgh, as accountability for their gruesome experiments on the bodies of aborted babies. This funding was delayed for a full 6 months before finally being pushed through, and SFLAction is resuming the PA budget fight this summer.
READ: Pennsylvania Republicans BETRAY the Pro-Life Movement Over Human Experimentation Funding Battle
- Kansas State Senator Mark Steffen, who worked tirelessly to get a recorded vote on our Life at Conception Act and Chemical Abortion Prevention Act which had been introduced in Kansas, thanks to the hard work of 18 year-old SFLAction staffer Cheyenne Vandeventer.
As Kristan Hawkins said as she closed out the event: “Being a Champion can be a lonely place. Those legislators willing to do the hard things need to know when they step forward, we as a pro-life movement will have their backs and stand with them.”
SFLAction will continue to fight this year, battling across multiple states and seeking to pass life-saving legislation.