Missouri Right to Life - Western Region
Linda Verhulst, MRL-WR – May 15, 2026
Life is In the Air
Regardless of how pro-life legislation has fared, or will fare, at the polls, pro-life victories are all around us. At our Harry’s Hay Days booth in Grandview last weekend I had many conversations that would attest to this.
One couple shared how the husband used to be very pro-choice and even served on the board of Missourians for Choice until 2001, the year his wife became pregnant for the first time. Mom felt like something just wasn’t right, so she insisted that her doctor (the only physician who performed abortions where they lived) give her a sonogram. She called her husband to come to the doctor’s office, and together they watched as their twin boys wrestled each other (literally) in utero. She was only eight weeks along. Dad’s response? “I became pro-life in about 45 seconds.”
One woman recounted how her father was stationed in Germany when her mom was pregnant with her. The doctor advised that she abort because her exposure to German measles would produce a “retarded” child. Her mom ignored his recommendation and gave birth to a healthy baby girl who is a pro-life woman today.
Another woman said she was homeless and pregnant with her first child. She didn’t know what to do or how she would cope. She called a pregnancy center in Harrisonville by mistake. They knew she had the wrong number, but told her that they could help. She attributes this phone call to saving her daughter’s life.
A couple of young women asked if they could kvetch (their word) with me about how abortion doesn’t make sense. (I obliged.) One of these jovial kvetchers made a point I had never considered. We had moved on to discussing the abortion-for-rape exception, and she agreed that abortion adds to the mother’s trauma. She then went on to say that it also robs her of the time she would have had, while pregnant, to process the violence against her and consider her unborn child. How true! How many women have felt pressured by abortion providers, who claim, “You need an abortion, and you need it now!”
And no booth experience would be complete without the many mothers who stopped by to show their children our fetal model display and explain how they grew in her tummy. Speaking of fetal models, In 2017, Jessica Rojas thought the 12-week fetal models being handed out at a pro-life booth were cute, so she took one and hung it on her rearview mirror. She never really thought one way or another about the abortion issue until she got pregnant. She felt alone, scared, unsure, and underprepared. She visited Planned Parenthood and was told that abortion was her only option. After the visit, she sat in her car, troubled and confused, then her eyes landed on the fetal model. Its features reminded her that the baby in her womb was a fellow human being, and decided to choose life for her child—a daughter.
One woman on her way to an abortion clinic was following a car with a “Choose Life” license plate. As she got closer, she could not bring herself to keep her appointment. The message on the plate spoke so loudly to her that she followed through with her pregnancy and now has a son.
We may even have an impact on those who show anger toward us. Jonathon Van Maren, a prominent pro-life activist tells stories of such instances. One girl who yelled and swore at him at a campus display found him a year later and revealed that she could not go through with an abortion because she could not get the images of aborted babies out of her mind. A furious pro-choice nursing student argued with Van Maren for hours, then went home and looked up a video of an abortion. What she saw made her sick and sorrowful…and pro-life. We may never know how our words affect someone. One conversation can plant a seed that bears fruit in the future.