Lila Rose encourages Life Fest attendees: 'We speak the truth and we love'

Last week prior to the March for Life on January 23, the Knights of Columbus and the Sisters of Life co-sponsored Life Fest, a rally featuring speakers, music, and prayer to celebrate the sanctity of human life.

This year, Live Action founder and president Lila Rose addressed the crowd, sharing the story of how she became involved in pro-life activism, what it really means to be pro-life, and the best way to share the pro-life message.

Key Takeaways:

• Rose shared her conviction to start pro-life advocacy work.

• She explained the logical reasoning behind the fight against abortion, noting that it is always wrong to take an innocent human life, and abortion is the direct and intentional taking of an innocent life. Therefore, abortion is always wrong.

• She also reminded attendees of the importance of sharing the pro-life message with love.

What It Really Means to Be Pro-Life in Today’s Culture | Lila Rose | Life Fest 2026

A conviction to fight for the preborn

Rose told the crowd that she didn't decide to start Live Action because she was bored and had nothing else to do. Instead, she felt moved to get involved in pro-life advocacy after learning about the atrocity of abortion.

“I felt heartbroken when I found out about what abortion was,” she told attendees.

She recalled learning about abortion as a child after reading a book that included images of fetal development alongside images of children killed by abortion. “I remember looking at these images and feeling this deep conviction in my heart, because I knew these are human lives,” she said. “I knew deep in my heart, human life is precious.”

The case against abortion

She said that there is sometimes confusion about what it means to be "pro-life" — especially when abortion advocates frequently accuse pro-lifers of being "anti-woman" or "pro forced-birth." However, she said, "We are pro-life because we know what abortion is. Abortion is not medical treatment. Abortion is the direct and intentional taking of an innocent human life.”

She outlined this as a simple case of logic: “It is always wrong to intentionally take an innocent human life. Abortion takes an innocent human life. Therefore, abortion is always wrong.”

Though, she pointed out, some abortion advocates will say that no one knows when life really begins, there is scientific consensus on the issue. “Read any medical textbook,” she said. “Human life begins at the moment of fertilization. That’s how we all began our life.”

“The first human right is life,” Rose told the crowd. “You can’t enjoy any other right without it.”

“We speak the truth and we love”

Rose emphasized that when sharing the pro-life message, it is essential to do so with love.

"We are going out there to show people the model of how to advocate for life, how to advocate against evil, but to do it with love," she said.

She warned against being critical of those who believe differently, especially on social media.

“Loving our neighbor doesn’t mean that we never offend or that we never speak out,” she said. “But it does mean that when we speak, when we march, when we act, we are doing everything for the good of the other person.”

She concluded by urging attendees to defend preborn children while treating opponents with dignity. “We speak the truth and we love,” she said. “And we never back down from either.”