Students witness powerful pro-life testimony

Pro-life speaker Rebecca Kiessling gave a powerful keynote speech at SPUC’s "inspiring" annual youth conference.

The Archdiocese sponsored four students to attend the event - Laura Calnan and Henry Viall, from the University of Edinburgh, Sophia Tait, a parishioner at St Andrew’s, Ravelston, and Matildarose Nevin, a pupil at St Modan’s High School.

In her testimony Ms Kieslling - an American who was conceived in rape - said: "I was 18 when I first learned I was conceived in rape and I immediately felt targeted. I felt like I had at least half the world was against me. There are all these people who don’t even know me who stand in judgement of my life and are quick to dismiss it because of how I was conceived... People spoke about my life as if I was garbage like I was disposable.

“Gallup polls in the US show that 63% believe in the rape exception, and I knew I had to justify my own existence and prove to the world I shouldn’t have been aborted...We are despised and targeted to be killed. We are the only group of people alive today that it is acceptable to despise.

“How does an innocent child deserve the death penalty... It Is barbaric to punish an innocent person for someone else’s crime... I am the good that came out of something evil

How does an innocent child deserve the death penalty... It Is barbaric to punish an innocent person for someone else’s crime... I am the good that came out of something evil."

The conference, at Wyboston in Bedfordshire, aims to educate, inspire and empower young people to protect unborn children and their mothers. Also speaking was Sr Roseann Reddy, founder of the Sisters of the Gospel of Life, based in Glasgow.

Sophia said:  “It was a wonderful weekend that has both inspired me to get more involved with the Pro-Life cause. It also gave me some practical ideas of how to go about doing that. It was lovely to meet so many people who are passionately Pro-Life.

"Altogether, the conference was both educational and uplifting, and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to be there."

Discover more about SPUC's pro-life work in Scotland atwww.spuc.org.uk/spucscotland. Read SPUC'S coverage here 

From left: Henry, speaker Rebecca Kiessling , Laura and Sophia.

Young parishioners take pro-life message to streets of Scotland

Meet the young people from the Archdiocese hitting the streets of Scotland to speak the truth about abortion.

Joey, Anna and Liam are part of the Project Truth 2019 Roadshow, which takes the pro-life message to towns and cities across the country from 4th-9th August.

Joey from Fife currently works for the Scottish Government and is taking part for the first time.

He said: "I am looking forward to exploring the compassionate side of the pro-life community.

"I like to debate from a statistical perspective, but I know that Project Truth will teach me to become more empathetic to those who sit on the other side of the fence.

"I am Pro-Life because humanity will never find out the potential of what we have destroyed.

Anna is a student at Edinburgh University. She is also a first time Project-Truther!

She said: "Being pro-life is by no means a mainstream opinion in Scotland, but I think that Project Truth opens up the opportunity for dialogue and, in turn, people’s mindset.

"By joining the Project Truth Roadshow, I hope to expose to people the humanity of the unborn, and encourage the view that women can succeed, can thrive, can be happy, in a culture of life."

Liam, from Croftanee is doing his third roadshow.

He said: "As former US President Ronald Reagan once said: 'I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born'.

"This partly sums up our throwaway culture, who often live for themselves, their indulgences and their pleasures.

"This is a week where young pro-lifers can come together to truly live for someone else and put that selflessness into practise. To take a stand for those who can’t."

Louise Grant, Director of Youth Development for the Scottish Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC Scotland) is organising the roadshow.

She said: "This is about bringing the truth to the streets, a truth which is so often hidden because of the controversial nature of the abortion issue.

"Project Truth aims to break the silence, to bring the facts to the streets, to engage in positive discussions with passers by in the hope that hearts and minds will be changed because the reality is – we are not just talking about ‘an issue’ – we are talking about unique human lives, lives that are under threat in the place they should be safest.

"Until each child is protected by law in their mother’s womb, we will continue to bear witness to the pro-life message and fight for the most basic human rights of the unborn – the right to life.

The Project Truth 2019 Roadshow takes place from 4-9 August and visits Dunfermline, Edinburgh, Linlithgow and Stirling. Visit Project Truth on Facebook

Visit the GoFundMe page to make a donation to help fund the roadshow.