American political activist and swimmer Riley Gaines Barker shared the news this weekend that she and her husband, Louis Barker, are expecting their first child. Gaines Barker said that her pregnancy has made her “radically pro-life.”
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Riley Gaines Barker has announced her first pregnancy with husband Louis Barker.
- Speaking to attendees at the Turning Point USA Young Women’s Leadership Summit, Gaines Barker said that her pregnancy has solidified her stance as “radically pro-life.”
- She also told attendees that Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry try to “normalize violence” in the name of ‘choice’.
THE DETAILS:
Gaines Barker first made her announcement while speaking at the Young Women’s Leadership Summit (YWLS) on Saturday, June 14, later confirming the baby news on Instagram.
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“Surprise! We’re 26 weeks pregnant!” she wrote. “God is SO good all the time.”
Speaking to the attendees at YWLS, Gaines Barker shared that though she has always been pro-life, her pregnancy has made those convictions even stronger. She said:
I want to share just a couple of revelations that I’ve had since becoming pregnant. Number one, becoming a mother, or soon to be a mother, has made me radically pro-life. And for clarity, I’ve always been pro-life because I have always been a Christian who knows that, of course, we have a God who condemns the shedding of innocent blood and gives purpose to each of his children before conception.
It reminds me of Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart.”
So being pregnant hasn’t necessarily made me value life any more than I did prior to conception, but it has made the thought of abortion hurt deeply and viscerally. It has made it unimaginable to me. It has highlighted how the phrase of ‘reproductive freedom,’ how it is totally misleading verbiage.
Of course, every single woman has the freedom to reproduce, if they are capable and they choose to do so. But what no woman, or no human being should ever have the freedom to do is prematurely end the life of a developing child.
She also called out the abortion industry, and Planned Parenthood specifically, for perpetuating the lie that women need to have the “choice” to kill their preborn children in order to be successful.
“Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry tell women that their babies are just clumps of cells. Or that it’s just a ball of tissue. They are severing the natural connection between a mother and her child,” she said. “They’re normalizing violence against the most vulnerable, and they’re calling it a choice. But no mother that I know, no real advocate for women, wants her empowerment to come at the cost of her own child’s life.”
COMMENTARY:
Gaines Barker is correct; Planned Parenthood has depicted a preborn child of 7-8 weeks gestation as a “dot” when in reality, that child has a beating heart, arms and legs, fingers and toes and a heart that’s been beating for two to three weeks already. The corporation has also been known to change its terminology for a preborn child based on the ‘wantedness’ of that child.
Live Action’s “Medical Misinformation” undercover investigation revealed the ways Planned Parenthood lies to women about human prenatal development. And “Baby Olivia” has revealed how rapidly human development occurs even in the first trimester of pregnancy:
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Gaines Barker’s announcement isn’t the first time she has publicly stood against Planned Parenthood. Now, as she prepares to welcome her first child, she remains a powerful advocate for women and mothers who need support in standing against the lies of the abortion industry.
