Lila Rose at the 2024 Life Awards Gala

"Today, the victims of abortion cannot tell their story because they were murdered, before they had a chance to take their first breath... These 60 million children can never tell their stories because their lives were cut short. It is our duty to tell their stories. And to fight for the lives of the precious children still in danger." At the 2024 Life Awards Gala, Lila Rose shares the core mission of the pro-life movement and Live Action's next steps in building a culture of life.

Full Transcript:

We are living in historic times.

Two years ago, the biggest barrier to victory—Roe v. Wade—was overturned. But let’s be clear: while we celebrate that triumph, the battle continues fiercely. In fact, it’s a bloodbath out there. Our opposition has captured most major institutions and entire political parties and has poured billions of dollars into indoctrination. The culture of death has mobilized media, politicians, and celebrities to wage war against the most vulnerable—those with no voice to defend themselves.

These are not just somebody else’s children; these are our children—America’s children—and they need defenders.

Some say life is a losing issue. Have you heard that recently? But Live Action is here to make life a winning issue. Live Action is here to win.

This is our vision: a world where every human life is protected by both love and by law, from conception to natural death. This vision is the North Star of our movement.

Our war is a media war. The media war is a symptom of a greater spiritual war that is raging—a sickness afflicting our culture. Right is wrong. Up is down. Confusion reigns, and deadly lies proliferate.

The battle for human lives doesn’t just take place in the halls of government, but in the hearts and minds of millions. Media intimately shapes how we understand and see the world. What people believe about the value of human life and abortion can mean life or death for millions—and those beliefs are profoundly shaped by media.

We are in a media war, and this war will define the future of this nation. Live Action has the battle plan to win the media war.

Tonight, we will discuss three of Live Action’s key steps to victory:

1. Face to Face

2. Baby Oliver — Olivia’s new baby brother

3. Formation

Today, people get most of their information not from their friends, churches, schools, or families—but from media, especially social media. Pew Research shows that 86% of adults now get their news from digital platforms, with Facebook and YouTube leading the way. Teenagers spend an average of seven hours and twenty-two minutes a day in front of screens.

That’s why Live Action is laser-focused on dominating these platforms—flooding them with truth and life-affirming content that cannot be ignored. To change hearts and minds, save lives, and end abortion, we must meet people where they are—online, in their feeds, on their screens—and that is what we are doing.

I’ll never forget one of the first times I realized how powerful media was. I was 18 years old, a freshman at UCLA. I had just done my first undercover investigation of the health center on campus and a Planned Parenthood nearby. I published the reports in a student magazine I had founded and uploaded the videos to YouTube.

I eagerly watched the views climb—first a thousand (at least a hundred from my mom clicking refresh from San Jose—thank you, Mom!), then 25,000, which to an 18-year-old in early YouTube days felt like a major win.

Then I got an email from Planned Parenthood threatening to sue me for thousands of dollars and pursue criminal penalties. I remember dropping to my knees in my dorm room and asking God for help.

I also marveled at the power of media—how Planned Parenthood, a global abortion leader with $1.5 billion in assets, felt threatened by YouTube videos. Their threats made the story reach millions more as national media picked it up.

The media can be a force for good—but its lies are our enemy. The sale of abortion is built on falsehoods: that a preborn child isn’t human, that abortion is necessary for women’s progress. The media repeats these lies so often that people stop questioning them. As the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels said, “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”

That’s where we come in.

Live Action’s content is proven to change hearts and minds on abortion. This isn’t guesswork—we’ve studied it. Through surveys, focus groups, interviews, polling, and data, we’ve seen how the truth transforms people. Every day, we hear from those whose minds have changed because of what they’ve seen.

We are in a crucial post-Roe moment. We must remember: no victory for human rights throughout history has come without a high cost. Every victory was called impossible until it was achieved.

We work in the tradition of Frederick Douglass, the former slave who escaped to the North and taught the world the power of stories to awaken conscience and drive change. Through his newspaper, The North Star, Douglass exposed the brutal realities of slavery in a time when even Christians called themselves “moderate” on the issue.

He was told to slow down—that slavery was too ingrained, too essential to the economy, too ancient to uproot. Sound familiar? Today, they tell us the same about abortion. “You can’t win.” “You’re too absolutist.” “Let the states decide.” But we know better.

Our What Is Abortion? series tells the truth. One of our videos on D&E dismemberment abortion causes 19% of pro-choice women to say abortion should never be legal and boosts support for the message that abortion should never be allowed by 21 percentage points. If the majority of Americans could see just that one video, we would have a different country.

In Florida, voters are about to decide on a constitutional amendment allowing abortion through all nine months. Live Action and our partner, Live Action Victory, are on the air urging Floridians to vote No and protect life.

(Video excerpt)

Our job at Live Action is to show and tell the truth about abortion. Seeing its reality awakens moral conviction. When hearts and minds are changed, lives are saved. Like the abolitionists before us, we will never back down.

A key difference between Douglass’s fight and ours is that Douglass could tell his story. Today’s victims of abortion cannot. Sixty million of my generation—sons and daughters—were killed before taking their first breath. They cannot speak. It is our duty to tell their stories and defend those still in danger.

It can be easy to ignore this cause because the victims are unseen and silent. That’s why we must overextend ourselves in caring. Each of us was given the blessing of birth. We are alive today, and our right to life and speech is protected. Therefore, it is our sacred duty to be a voice for the voiceless.

The false narratives running rampant in media are killing people. Consider the tragic death of Amber Thurman in Georgia—a young mother who died after taking abortion pills to end the lives of her twins.

The media blamed pro-life laws. Headlines in The Atlantic, The New York Times, and People Magazine falsely claimed abortion bans killed her. But it wasn’t pro-life laws—it was the abortion pill that killed Amber and her babies. Live Action News investigated and exposed the truth.

These distortions are not unique—there are hundreds. The cost of these lies is human lives. But when we show the truth—through animation, stories, and real footage—it cuts through the noise. Truth changes hearts and minds.

This is Live Action’s relentless focus—and it leads directly to lives saved.

Recently, a supporter wrote:

“At our 20-week scan, doctors found excess fluid in our daughter’s brain. They told us she wouldn’t survive and urged us to terminate. I was scared and almost believed it would be kinder. But through Live Action, I learned the truth and found strength to defend my baby. It was a long, stressful pregnancy, but our daughter Elizabeth was born on April 2, 2024—healthy and strong. She is thriving today.”

This is why your support is so critical. You aren’t just giving to a cause—you’re contributing to the end of abortion in America.

At Live Action, we are advancing three powerful initiatives to win this fight:

1. Face to Face – sharing the unfiltered stories of abortion survivors, former abortionists, and women who’ve endured it.

2. Baby Oliver – following our acclaimed Baby Olivia project, showing the beauty of human development with lifelike medical accuracy.

3. Formation – equipping the next generation of pro-life leaders with clarity, courage, and skill to win the cultural battle.

Each of these programs is designed to change minds, save lives, and end abortion.

We don’t have time to wait. We must lead the charge—and we must do it now.

Live Action is in it to win it.

With every image we show, every story we tell, every truth we expose, we are changing minds, saving lives, and winning the media war.

When you give to Live Action, you aren’t just supporting an organization—you’re fueling a media-driven movement to end abortion in this nation.

I know there is tremendous faith and courage in this room tonight. Thank you for answering the call—for dedicating your time, your stories, and your talent to a cause bigger than yourself.

Remember: this is a spiritual war. God allowed each of us to be born in this exact time in history for a reason. You have a purpose—a role to play.

This is a battle for lives, but also for souls.

Do not be surprised when you are attacked. Do not give up. Take heart—for He has overcome the world.

Together, we will win this fight.

Thank you.