(Oregon Right to Life) — Oregon Right to Life Education Foundation’s annual fundraiser, A Night for Advocacy, brought inspiration and powerful pro-life testimony to the nearly three hundred committed pro-life advocates in attendance Saturday night.
Portland’s Mater Dei radio host Brenda Aikin emceed the gala, held at the Salem Convention Center on September 20th. In their keynote addresses, Alan and Lisa Robertson – pro-life authors, speakers, and Duck Dynasty stars – shared their authentic and heartfelt personal stories of brokenness and redemption.
Alan and Lisa Robertson, who took the stage together, painted a picture for the audience of their less-than-ideal start in life: Alan was the result of a teenage pregnancy. His father, Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, struggled with alcoholism and temporarily abandoned his young family. Alan himself became involved in drugs and alcohol in high school, and his and Lisa’s early relationship was rocky. Alan and Lisa would find restoration and a return to faith later in life, leading to an abundance of family blessings.
In his remarks, Alan underscored the early decision by his young parents to choose life for him.
“Obviously it wasn’t convenient for them,” Alan said. “They were going to college, they were starting their lives together. But I wasn’t seen as an inconvenience. I was seen as an oldest son, who now am 60 years old and have carried the Gospel to hundreds of thousands of people. I would say God knows what He’s doing when He saves lives.”
For her part, prior to her own path of redemption and healing, Lisa suffered persistent sexual abuse as a young girl, leading to a shattered sense of self-worth, a teen pregnancy, and an abortion.
Speaking vulnerably about her abortion experience, Lisa described the facility she went to as a frightened teenager as “the coldest, darkest, loneliest place you’ll ever go.” She said the staff told her three lies: that the unborn baby inside her womb was “just a glob of tissue,” that the abortion wouldn’t have negative side effects, and that she would forget about the experience and move on.
Rebutting these claims, Lisa pointed out that abortion providers are medical professionals fully aware that an unborn human being is not simply a “glob of tissue.” She also said that she went on to have three pregnancies after marrying Alan, suffering complications with all of them, including two extremely premature births and a miscarriage – difficulties she attributes to damage caused by the abortion. Finally, she said that simply forgetting about the abortion would have been “impossible.”
“I took a life,” she said. “Are you telling me I should just be able to forget about that?”
Abortion regret is real and common. Many religious and non-religious pro-life resources and organizations exist to help women (and men) heal from emotional wounds caused by their experiences with abortion (learn more here).
READ: To Those Who Have Had Abortions: Yes, Healing is Possible
Concluding the shared keynote address, Lisa spoke about Oregon’s radical stance on abortion, permitting legal abortions for any reason up to the moment of birth. She encouraged pro-life advocates in the state to continue and increase their work to protect all human lives, from fertilization until natural death, by advocating, educating, and campaigning for life, as well as contributing financially to support pro-life work.
Alan and Lisa’s remarks followed inspiring words by Brenda Aikin and Oregon Right to Life leaders.
Aikin, a pro-life Catholic mother of four who is married to a Catholic deacon, spoke about a question that had been posed to her many years ago and challenged attendees to consider it as well: “if you were accused of being pro-life… is there enough evidence to convict you?”
In her address, Oregon Right to Life executive director Lois Anderson highlighted the organization’s work to build a culture of life “little by little” in the state, and emphasized Oregon Right to Life’s victories in the legislature this session.
She also spoke about recent violent attacks that stunned and grieved Americans nationwide: the murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a commuter train in North Carolina, and the assassination of 31-year-old prominent pro-life conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a college speaking event in Utah.
RELATED: Tributes Pour In After Prominent Pro-Life Conservative Leader Charlie Kirk Assassinated
“As I’m trying to process the grief that I feel through this, I thought of three things,” Anderson said. “The first thing is prayer. There’s no good way to come to terms with evil acts such as these without the peace and understanding that only God can provide. The second is to extend grace to everyone around me… the third was action. What changes do I need to make in my own mindset, and habits, and words?”
“I really don’t have the answers tonight, but I do know that it matters to acknowledge the impact of Charlie Kirk’s life and death on myself and those around me and on this human rights movement that we are involved with at Oregon Right to Life,” she said.
Oregon Right to Life Community Outreach Director Makyra Williamson also spoke, sharing powerful and uplifting stories from her team’s work to educate Oregonians about abortion and the pro-life message.
Stories included a young woman who told volunteers she chose life for her unborn baby thanks to their work demonstrating the humanity of the unborn, and that of a young man who reached out to the Oregon Right to Life office after his ex-girlfriend told him she would be seeking an abortion for their baby at nearly 36 weeks gestation – something fully protected by Oregon law even though a baby at that age can survive outside the womb. Thanks in part to support from Oregon Right to Life staff, the man’s ex-girlfriend changed her mind – months later, the team received a photo of a red-headed baby boy who was safe and thriving.
Williamson also shared encouraging updates about Oregon Right to Life Education Foundation’s student programs, and paused in her remarks to present the first-ever Rising Pro-Life Leader award to Maria Fernanda Vilela Hackett, a former student of Oregon Right to Life’s student retreat Launch who now works professionally in the pro-life movement.
“A pro-life presence makes a difference,” Williamson said. “I want to encourage you to know that. That’s not just a platitude that we say – we know it because we see results.”
At the end of the evening, pro-life advocates were given an opportunity to consider giving financially to support the vital work of Oregon Right to Life’s Education Foundation either as one-time or monthly donors through Oregon Right to Life’s new monthly giving program, Uplift.
Supporters exceeded Oregon Right to Life Education Foundation’s $150,000 fundraising goal by more than $10,000, with sponsors contributing nearly $60,000 and donors meeting a generous matching challenge that doubled the first $35,000 given during the event.
Oregon Right to Life relies on the generosity of committed pro-life advocates to continue its work to build a culture of life in Oregon. To all those who gave during the evening’s event: Thank you. To all those who have supported us in the past or who are considering supporting us in the future, we also extend our warmest gratitude. Reaching women and families with the pro-life message simply wouldn’t be possible without you.
If you didn’t get a chance to give to support the Education Foundation during this fundraiser, click here to give a financial gift now.
