When I go on vacation, I think I’m not going to talk about abortion or politics because that’s what I do all the time. But this summer, while in Las Vegas on a trip with my husband, the Lord had other plans for me.

I had been sitting in the same chair by the pool all day and decided to take a swim. When I got out of the pool, there was a girl sitting on my left from the UK and a couple on my right from New Jersey. The seats were tightly lined up. Awkward. I got in my chair. Those three were in the middle of a discussion about Trump and DeSantis and the stupid, pathetic Americans who vote for any Republican. I sat there between them and started reading my book. I was not going to engage in this discussion.

I thought about moving but my chair was one of the only ones with shade and it was 100 degrees! Then, the girl from the UK said, “But do you know who the worst people are? Pro-lifers! They love their guns and allow schools and children to be shot up, but want to stop women from getting healthcare.”

She continued to say pro-lifers were the worst people on the entire earth, and I thought, “I’m going for it, Lord. Please guide me.” So I said, “Oh, really? Well, I run a pro-life ministry in North Carolina, and our State just passed legislation to reduce abortions, and our mission is to actually end abortion completely.”  Their jaws dropped. I offered to have a dialogue and healthy conversation about my different perspective, and they all agreed they would like to hear it. 

So I started with the crux of the issue and asked, “When does life begin?”

The NJ couple didn’t really have an answer and said, “We don’t really know.” The UK gal said, “It isn’t a life until it is born- it is a fetus, not a baby.”

I asked her, “Is that at 40 weeks?” 

“Yes,” she said.

“But, the world record for a baby to be born and survive outside of the womb is 21 weeks, so does life begin at 40 weeks or 21 weeks?” 

“Whenever it is born,” she says.

I said, “Is it a life if the baby has a heartbeat?”  

“Yes,” the NJ couple said. 

“No. It is not,” the UK woman said.

“Well, we know, according to science, that a baby’s heart begins developing three weeks after conception and we can hear the heartbeat with an ultrasound at five weeks. So does that make it a human?”

The couple said, “Yes”, but the UK girl said, “No, the heartbeat doesn’t matter. It’s a fetus.”

I asked the Uk girl, “So, do you believe in science?” “Absolutely, I believe in science,” she said.

“Then, how is it, not a baby if at conception the sex and genetic make-up is completed and at 3-5 weeks the baby has a heartbeat?” 

Now, she began yelling at me. She said I made up the science, and I probably believed the Bible, and all the materials I read were biased. She got very angry. Then, told me I was yelling.

We talked for an hour and a half, with the New Jersey couple bringing up scenarios that we discussed. I shared data, facts, and Biblical truths about how there is absolutely no reason for an abortion- even in the case of medical threats to the mother or rape. 

The UK girl was screaming, saying that a baby is a parasite that feeds off the mother, but the NJ couple and I were having a very fruitful conversation. Eventually, The couple had to leave, and they thanked me for the conversation. 

The UK girl asked them, “Did you learn anything from THIS woman?” 

“Yeah,” the man said,  “I learned that at five weeks, it’s a baby.” 

When they left, the UK girl said, “I would actually never have an abortion because it is tragic.” 

I ended the conversation with a parting question. “Well, if you are so passionate about abortion and you want women to have one, why wouldn’t you get one yourself?” 

She was speechless. 

One left angry, two others left thoughtful, but the issue was clear to all of them. Life begins at conception, and God decides when life begins and when it ends. Abortion kills a child, period. As we parted ways, I thanked God for our conversation. It was undeniable that He orchestrated placing me in the middle of these people so they could hear the truth.  I pray that one day, the truth will set them free. 

Let us not be afraid to step in and speak the truth!