Lianna Rebolledo tells young leaders why she chose life after rape: ‘Love is stronger than violence’

Live Action’s Young Leaders Summit was held on March 22, 2025, bringing together emerging activists in the pro-life movement to hear inspiring and dynamic speakers. One featured speaker was Lianna Rebolledo, a pro-life activist who shared her experience of becoming pregnant from sexual assault when she was just 12 years old.

Rebolledo told the crowd that she was raped after being kidnapped from the streets of Los Angeles as a young girl. After the assault, she experienced a deep depression, which led to a suicide attempt. As she was being treated in the hospital, the doctor told her she was pregnant.

Pregnant by R*pe, Healed by Embracing Life: Lianna Rebolledo at the Young Leaders Summit

“I had so much pain, but when I hear ‘pregnancy,’ I just knew that I had a baby inside of me and I was not even afraid,” Rebolledo said.

But instead of offering help, the doctor insisted that she abort her preborn baby. “I was still going through the rape trauma and he said, ‘You don’t have to live with the consequences; the law is on your side. Abortion is legal. You don’t want to keep this product. It’s going to be a reminder of what happened to you.'”

Wise beyond her 12 years, Rebolledo immediately recognized that killing her preborn child would not heal the pain she had experienced:

 I asked, ‘So if I have an abortion, will this take away my nightmare?’ And he said, ‘No.’

And then I said, ‘So if I have an abortion, am I going to be able to go outside and not be afraid anymore?’ And he said, ‘No.’

And then I asked him, ‘If I have the abortion, will this undo the rape?’ And he goes, ‘No.’

So then I’m thinking, if I cannot handle the trauma of rape, how am I going to survive taking the life of my child if it’s not going to take away the rape and it’s not going to undo it? But I was never considering abortion anyways; I was just hoping he would offer me help, and he didn’t.

Despite the circumstances and the fact that she had no idea how she was going to raise her child, Rebolledo continued the pregnancy and gave birth to a little girl.

“Just to see her little face, I realized that this little person, she became the light that I needed at the end of the tunnel, and she didn’t remind me of anyone. She reminded me that love is stronger than any violence.”

After giving birth, Rebolledo worked hard to stay in school and worked many jobs to support herself and her daughter, Jeannette, whom she called the greatest gift she had ever received.

As she got older, Jeannette was incredibly service-minded, bringing food and clothes to homeless, helping mothers and babies in need, and more. Tragically, Jeannette had an illness that caused brain tumors, and she passed away a few years ago. Despite the tragedy, Rebolledo has found encouragement and purpose in sharing her story and helping others recognize the value of each life.

“We have to make abortion unthinkable in the cases of rape,” she told the attendees. “Let’s not punish the wrong person. Let’s not punish the babies. We need to punish the rapists… If you save one life, you are saving the whole world.”