Good morning. I am truly honored to be here with all of you today. And even though I have been invited here today to share with you a little bit about my life and about God's mercy and the awesome power of prayer in my life, I just wanted to take a moment to personally thank each one of you for being here today as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, because I truly believe that if it wasn't for all of you, it wouldn't be for me. That is how powerful prayer is in my life.

I believe that my calling truly is to minister to others and to share my story with people like you all over the world, and it is the most important thing I know that I will ever do in my life, but I couldn't do it without all of your support, without all of your prayers, and without all of your own faith in action. So for that, I truly thank you.

And to really understand how I've come here to be with all of you today, I wanna share a little story with you about the power of prayer in my life. I have so many stories that I could stand up here and tell you about today, because God has moved in such miraculous ways in my life, and nothing ceases to amaze me anymore about just how powerful God is.

But I had a particular experience this past spring that I think will kind of hit home with all of you about how important prayer is. On April 19th of this past year, I was doing the keynote speech at a Respect Life dinner that was about a half-hour away from my home, which is in Sioux City, Iowa.

During my speech that night, I was kinda scanning the crowd, like I do every other time, because I like to see if people are hearing my message, and I like to read their faces to see their own story about how abortion has touched their life, and that night was no different.

As I scanned around the room, I saw a young man on one side who was visibly taken by his emotions. He kept putting his head in his hands and shaking it back and forth, and I just knew he must have a story. Unfortunately, he came and went that evening before I could talk to him about how abortion had touched his life.

But on the other side of the room, I was taken aback by another man, and he was much older than this other young man, but he, too, was visibly taken by his emotions, and I was hoping that as the evening went on, I would have an opportunity to speak with him to find out just how abortion had touched his life.

As my mystery man that night later climbed up onto the stage, I finally got to learn how abortion had touched his life. As my mystery man from the crowd climbed up onto the stage, I caught a glimpse of his collar, and I recognized that he was a priest from the local community.

Here's what he said to the crowd, and it just blew me away. This was Father Callahan, and he said to the crowd, "And who says prayers go unanswered?" And he was crying. The tears were just streaming down his face.

And I locked eyes with him, and I could really feel like he was talking to me, and what we figured out that night is that this wasn't the first time our lives had connected with each other. Our lives had intertwined almost 32 years prior to that, because Father Callahan used to pray outside of the hospital in Sioux City, where I had survived the abortion attempt all those years ago. Pretty amazing stuff, isn't it?

So that night, Father Callahan got to meet the result of his prayers. He got to learn that his prayers were answered. One of the unborn children survived that abortion attempt. And it was a great honor for me to meet someone who had such a powerful hand in saving my life, because I know, although it was truly God's work, it is also the power of all of your prayers that makes such things happen.

I don't know if all of you know this, but in the United States alone, over 1.3 million children's lives are ended by abortion each and every year. And here, I stand before all of you this morning, meant to be one of those 1.3 million. It's incredibly humbling, and it's the greatest of blessings.

As Maureen mentioned earlier, I'm the survivor of what's called a saline infusion abortion, and for those of you who aren't aware of what that is, a saline infusion abortion involves injecting a caustic saline solution into the amniotic fluid surrounding the unborn baby, and the saline solution is then meant to scald the baby to death from the outside in.

As I stand before you today, I bear no physical scars as a result of that abortion attempt. I love it when people ask me questions about it. People are scared or nervous to ask me that, and that doesn't bother me, because I'm proud to say that not only I survived, but that the Lord saved me from any further harm as a result. That is the only answer I can give someone as to how I survived and how I went away unscathed.

At the time that my biological mother presented herself for that abortion attempt, she estimated herself between 18 and 22 weeks pregnant. Now that I've had my birth records and they've been reviewed by some doctors, they can guess that she was probably likely somewhere between 24 to 28 weeks pregnant.

Throughout the course of a five-day period, I endured that deliverance of that toxic salt solution into the amniotic fluid around me while numerous rounds of pitocin were delivered to my mother, with the intent to induce labor and ultimately dispel my dead body from the womb.

When I was delivered in bed by a nurse that fifth day, I was believed to be dead, but thank the Lord that He gave me the ability to make some movement and some sound, and thank the Lord that those doctors and nurses provided me with the medical care that I needed to continue to live. All of us here this morning know that there are lots of children just like me who aren't given the medical care they need to sustain their life. I was one of the lucky ones.

As an infant, doctors truly believed that I would suffer from any one of a number of emotional or physical disabilities as a result of my premature birth and the abortion attempt, but I always love to point out that despite these ominous forebodings regarding my life, I was wanted. My adoptive parents opened their hearts and their home to me, taking a chance on this little child that they were told might not live past their infancy, and if she did survive, would more than likely be disabled. You know, that's unconditional love right there, and you're gonna have an opportunity a little bit later this morning to meet my adoptive mother, who's here with me.

As some of you may know if you've heard my story anywhere, it's only been in the last few years that I really came public with my story, and there's a few reasons behind that. The first one was because I truly, for many years, felt very ashamed and very embarrassed, and even quite guilty, and I know that that can sound kind of strange to people.

Even though I know that my life is the greatest gift and that I'm so blessed, for a long time, I felt so very different from everyone. You know, I had never heard about or met anyone who was like me. And I also struggled for a long time, feeling guilty, because, as I said, I stand before you, having lived this incredibly blessed life, and to bear no scars of the abortion.

And so for a long time, I felt like who am I to say anything? But who am I to say anything? I am the one. I am one that God set forth to share His story of mercy and grace.

Another one of the reasons that I didn't come forward with my story publicly until recent years was also out of respect to my biological family. And I think for people who don't have a really strong foundation of faith, that doesn't always make sense to them, because some people really can't grasp that I forgave my parents a long time ago for that decision that was made to end my life. I am not their judge nor their jury, and I can't imagine the amount of shame and pain that they have dealt with their entire lives as a result.

But I did seek out my parents, and it took about ten years. And I wanted to speak with them before I came forward, because I didn't wanna cause them any more trauma than what they've likely experienced, and I wanted to let them know that I was alive and well and not angry or bitter about the circumstances that surrounded my arrival into this world.

And so after ten years of searching, in 2007, I obtained my medical records, and in those medical records, it actually listed my birth parents' names. That was a gift from the Lord, because I had reached a point in my search that I knew I either had to get some knowledge or be done, because it truly was the most spiritually and emotionally draining thing I've ever done.

And so in May of 2007, I not only learned more about the abortion procedure that was meant to take my life, but I discovered that my own biological father was living in the same city where I was living. I hadn't grown up there. I had moved there about four years previously to that to finish my master's degree.

I couldn't find my biological mother, but I did discover where her parents were living. And so I prayed about it for a couple of months, because I wasn't sure exactly how to go about taking the next step. And in July of 2007, the Lord gave me the permission to go forward and contact my biological father, and I sent him a letter. As Maureen shared, I sent it to his workplace, because I didn't know what anybody else knew about me, and I didn't wanna make things any more difficult than they were going to be when I sent the letter.

You know, unfortunately, months went by, and I never heard from my father. In August of 2007, I went ahead and sent a letter to my biological mother's parents, and once again, I didn't really expect a response, but within a couple of days, my mother's father actually responded very quickly. And in that letter, he admitted to the fact that they knew that day was always going to come when I would be making contact with them.

And in the letter, he admitted to the fact that my live birth was not her intention that day when she entered the hospital, and that's the only thing he said about the abortion attempt. And at first, I was pretty disappointed in that, because I was really looking for someone to come forward and say, "This is why this decision was made. This is who was responsible," and I wasn't given any of that information. And I'm okay with that now, because I know that if the Lord wants me to know that, I will learn that someday.

In my grandfather's letter, he also told me that he has been estranged from my mother in recent years. I can only guess that maybe that is some piece of the past that's been unraveling here in recent years, because as time has gone on, I've learned that it was probably my mother's father who coerced her into having that abortion all those years ago, which is really not any different than a lot of things we see happen yet to this day. We have well-meaning family and friends who believe that directing a woman to have an abortion is the best thing that they could do for them.

Through my grandfather's letter, I also learned that my parents had dated for over four years before they became pregnant with me, and I like to share that piece, because some people seem to think that abortions just happen to people who aren't in love, who aren't committed to each other, but they had a relationship, and my father wanted to marry my mother.

I also learned through that letter that my mother went on to have two other children of her own. I have two other sisters out there somewhere in the world. You know, as I shared with you, I never heard from my biological father, and the brief version of the story is that in January of 2008, I searched my father's name on the Internet, because I did that from time to time, just to stay up on what may be happening in his life.

And this time, when I searched, something new came up as a hit. And I opened the link, terribly excited to read about what was going on in his life. And when I opened that link, it was my father's obituary. My father passed away at the age of 51, and as you can hear in my voice, I still grieve the loss of the father that I never met. And I grieve for my father. He carried the secret of my survival of the abortion all of those years and ultimately to his grave.

When I speak to young people, I have to share with them the story of my father, because I don't want any other young man to have to struggle throughout their life, carrying the secrecy and the shame and the guilt that my father must have felt.

Even though I never had the opportunity to meet my father, his death, in one way, was a blessing, because, as Maureen shared in my bio, when my father passed away and they cleaned out his office, his family discovered the letter that I had sent him. All those months, I had wondered if he ever received the letter, and if he did, if he ever even read it. And he had, and he saved it. You can only imagine the shock that they have felt, finding out about this great secret, and about the pain and suffering that they've experienced, having lost out on 32 years of their grandchild's life.

Since my father's passing, I've had the opportunity to meet one of my great-aunts. She's actually my grandmother's younger sister. I've had the opportunity to meet my grandfather. He was just at my house on Saturday, and actually, both my great-aunt and my grandfather were at my daughter's first birthday.

I've had the opportunity to speak with my grandmother on the phone, and also, to my father's wife by email. And I just pray that as time goes on and they can continue to process through their own grief, that they find a way to tell the rest of the family about me, including a younger sister that I have living right here in the same community that I do back in Iowa.

I hope that you take away from my time with you today understanding just how deep my gratitude is to the Lord for my life and how grateful I am for the opportunity to finally come forward and share my voice for those millions of children who are voiceless, just like me, around the world.

If you take those statistics apart, in the United States alone, that means that over 3,700 children's lives are lost to abortion each and every day. And again, it's terribly humbling to be one of those children that survives.

I gave a speech last night at the fundraiser where Senator Santorum spoke, and one of the things that I talked about was, you know, when we think about the devastation of abortion, we think about all of these millions of lives that are lost to these people who have the potential of changing the world - the doctors who could've cured cancer or the presidents who could've ruled the nation.

And what I like people to think about is the fact that these millions of children, no matter what their potential for leading or changing the world were, as a result of abortion, they just don't even have the opportunity to experience the little important things in life.

If that abortion would have been successful all those years ago, I would have died before I could experience the deep love and affection that a child has for their parent, and, likewise, that a parent has for their child. I would have died before I could experience the birth of my niece and three nephews. I would have missed out on spoiling them rotten and watching them grow into the amazing young people that they are today.

For those of you that want to know how long I've known about the abortion attempt, my oldest nephew is actually connected to that. He just turned 17 years old last July, and because my sister became pregnant with him in high school, my adoptive mother told her about my story.

Because even though my older sister and I had always known we were adopted from different families, we hadn't known the story of my survival. But my mother told her that story in the hopes that she would make an informed decision about her pregnancy, and thank the Lord that she did. My nephew is amazing.

If that abortion would have been successful, I never would have been able to attend high school or college or obtain my master's degree in social work. I never would have had the opportunity to touch people's lives by teaching them in their high school and their college classrooms. I never would have provided counseling and therapy to children who have been abused, who have witnessed abuse, to adolescents recovering from substance abuse and mental health disorders.

I never would have counseled women who have survived domestic violence and sexual assault or women who are recovering from their addictions. I never would have met my husband, and I never would have had the opportunity to become a mother myself. On April 26th of 2008, our first daughter, Olivia Eva Sophia, was born at the very same hospital where my life was supposed to end. That's a long story. That was God's hand at work, and if anyone wants to hear that story later, I'd be more than happy to share it with you.

You know, my daughter has brought me the most joy. She's amazing. And even though I forgave my parents long ago for that decision that was made to end my life I will be really honest with all of you. In those first couple of weeks, first bringing my daughter home, I experienced a night of incredibly great anger. And I think any mother in this room can relate, and even fathers, because there, that night, I was holding my beautiful, vulnerable little child in the deep dark of night, and looking at her, it hit me that she was not meant to enter this world, at least in the human sense of this world, just as I was not meant to enter it.

And it's one thing for me to know that a lethal attempt was made on my life, but it's a whole other story for me to realize that my child's life almost ended before it began, and I was angry. But as quickly as I became angry, it washed away pretty quickly into sadness, because it was there that night that I fully understood that one single moment, one decision, can have such a detrimental impact on so many people, living and dead, born and yet to be conceived.

And that night, I really started thinking about my purpose in life, because even though I had come forward and started sharing my story before then, the birth of my daughter made me question what I was going to continue to do with my life.

But that night, I knew what I was going to do. Everything that had once been important in my life was no longer important anymore. What is important is that I'm a good mother to my daughter, that I'm a good partner in life to my husband, that I'm a good daughter, sister, and friend, and that I use my life for the purpose that the Lord set out for me, to share my story with people like you around the world.

In keeping with the purpose of what we're here about today in terms of using God's vision for life and love and praying for the conversions of nations and for peace, I wanna tell you a little bit about my daughter, because her name is Olivia, and Olivia's name actually is a euphemism for peace.

I started speaking with a group called Feminists for Life in 2007, and the very first time I spoke was on Capitol Hill, because I decided, why not start small, really? Do a small event. When I was on Capitol Hill, I spoke about peace beginning in the womb, which is one of Feminists for Life mottos. What I didn't realize is at the time I was speaking, I was just a few days pregnant with Olivia.

And so that is how Olivia so aptly became Olivia, because peace begins in the womb, and she is my piece of peace. I have a treat for you, if she's awake. Is she awake? She's sleeping? Okay. My daughter is sleeping in the pews back there. (Laughter). But I think we'll have the opportunity, if anyone wants to meet my daughter, you certainly can. She is just a beautiful gift from God. And back there, as I'm motioning, that is my mother, Linda, and one of my aunts, Gladys. Mom, raise your hand. Nothing like putting you on the spot. Hi, Mom.

They're amazing people, and I know if it wasn't for the Lord and all of your prayers and my wonderful family, I wouldn't be here today, and I wouldn't be who I am today. I pray that the Lord continues to bless you and guide all of you in your commitment to protecting and respecting children just like me around the world.

And I wanna share my last piece with you tonight, a favorite piece of Scripture, and I'm sure many of you probably know it by heart. It's from Psalm 139, Versus 13 through 16. "For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your Book before one of them came to be."

I wanna thank you again, and I hope that you leave here today realizing that if you've ever doubted the power of your prayer, of your faith, that you can leave today knowing that you've seen the fruits of your labor. I ask you to please continue to pray for the lives of all who are affected by abortion in our world today; not just unborn children and survivors like me, but their mothers, their fathers, their parents, their siblings, our friends, our neighbors, and our communities.

God bless all of you. Thank you.