We asked, you answered: Changing hearts and minds

Lauren H.: Multiple times. I showed them a picture of an abortion victim.

Pauline N.: My sister; what helped changed her mind was that in some states, if a pregnant women is murdered it’s considered a double homicide. So the fetus only has rights if the mother wants them.

Vanessa K.: A close relative saw me adopt one of my kids. The underage mom on the streets surely had no good options but wisely still chose life for her child. She (the relative) and I had had a few brief mutually respectful conversations about abortion. Later she told me… my adopted child’s presence in our family had changed her mind.

Michael C.: My buddy said the man with Down syndrome who gave that pro-life speech changed his mind. 

Chris V.: I was talking to an acquaintance and she was telling me about her new job which she said she loved because it was really empowering for women (at a family planning center). She had been working there a couple of months. I really tried to listen non-judgmentally in order to find some common ground. I’m glad I waited. She started telling me about how disgusting it was when these older guys brought in these young girls for “procedures” or pills so their wives wouldn’t find out. I listened as she basically talked herself out of a pro-choice position because how is THAT empowering to women…? Sometimes the best “argument” is to just listen. The facts are already there.

Jena Q.: We were talking about abortion and she she said “Who the hell wants a f***ing rape baby?!?!?” I just said “My parents did.” By the end of the conversation, her whole attitude had changed.

Ricky S.: I myself was convinced by a woman that was conceived in rape. She asked me to my face if she deserved to die for the crime of her father.

Sonia S.: My husband converted me from ambivalent/uninformed to adamantly pro-life. When we were dating he took me to my first March for Life in D.C. This past year, several years later, it was my idea to go back.

Meaghan A.: I kept an open dialogue with her, I never insulted her or forced my ideas. I just loved her and then she had her baby. She and her husband just had baby #2 and she told me now that she’s a mom, no way can she condone abortion.

Mary H.: My now husband. First date and I was 29 and done wasting time on morally ambiguous dudes, so I go right for all the hot button issues. He starts with the classic “I’d personally never would but”… and I am let me stop you right there… didn’t take much, he just needed to hear the other side of the arguments.

Jana K.: Yes. After a few discussions with my friend about the actual abortion procedure and the science of fetal development, without political or religious references. It wasn’t a lecture, just whenever the subject came into our natural conversation. One day, she told me she had changed her mind and thanked me.

Chiara B.: Just myself, when I finally discovered that there were non-religious reasons people were pro-life, and I did a close examination of both sides’ reasoning, and was forced to conclude that the pro-life side has all the facts on its side, and all the pro-choice side has is emotions.