{"id":36164,"date":"2013-06-07T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=36164"},"modified":"2013-08-15T20:51:03","modified_gmt":"2013-08-16T00:51:03","slug":"my-first-week-as-a-live-action-intern-its-only-the-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/my-first-week-as-a-live-action-intern-its-only-the-beginning\/","title":{"rendered":"My first week as a Live Action intern: It\u2019s only the beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

As a small-town country girl born and raised in a very conservative Christian home, I didn’t realize the culture shock I was in for when Live Action accepted my application to become an intern for them in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

At first, everything about the city was something new for me to get used to. There are no dirt roads here, and no rolling hills, but there are <\/i>a whole lot of career-focused people constantly flooding the streets and subways.<\/p>\n

Even though some may say the way I grew up was simple, I was taught that there is nothing more important than loving people no matter how \u201cdifferent\u201d or insignificant they seem. I was taught that the value of life is immeasurable. So while the largeness and the bustle of the city shocked me, one thing was even more astonishing: the considerable number of people who oppose the pro-life movement.<\/p>\n

As an intern for Live Action, I discovered this truth by going out campaigning on the streets of D.C., attempting to speak with people about pro-life matters and handing out issues of The Advocate<\/i>, our student magazine. It was not until the fifth or sixth person brushed me off that I realized the greatness of the struggle I had signed up for. There I was in the middle of street, on the brink of tears because I couldn’t believe that so many people could be so closed off to the idea that unborn babies deserve basic human-rights protection. I still have trouble processing this fact.<\/p>\n

But I didn’t come all the way to Washington just to give up, and I signed up for an internship with Live Action not because I thought they couldn’t use my help. So I swallowed the lump in my throat, brushed off my shoulders, and spotted a man in a janitor\u2019s uniform leaning against a building. I asked him if he had ever heard of gendercide…and he didn’t brush me off. Instead, he nodded and asked me why I\u2019d present him with such a question. I could tell he was interested, and for the first time that day, I became filled with confidence.<\/p>\n

I started explaining that sex-selection abortions (gendercide) are happening not only in China; they are happening right here, every day, in the States. As I went into detail, I noticed the friendly expression on the man\u2019s face changing to disbelief and concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you telling me about this?\u201d he asked. \u201cThat is legal?\u201d<\/p>\n

He explained to me that he was from Africa. He had had no idea that abortion is legal in the U.S. He didn’t understand the reason for standing on street corners handing out flyers about why abortion is wrong. I was still getting over abortion support being more widespread than I\u2019d ever imagined, but to this man, abortion itself was a foreign concept.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople do this on purpose?\u201d the man asked, pointing to a picture on the back cover of the magazine I was offering him. It was an image of a seven-month-old aborted baby. \u201cHow is this okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

I kind of just stared at the man for a moment, wondering what to say next.<\/p>\n

I’ve always known how to tell someone why abortion is wrong, but explaining why it is legal was another thing. How was I supposed to tell him why it’s legal, if I didn’t even know myself?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not. It’s not okay.\u201d That was all I could get out.<\/p>\n

I could tell the man was getting angry now. I wasn’t sure if his anger was directed towards me, or if he was upset about the magazine\u2019s explicit pictures of aborted babies, but either way, I felt embarrassed. Embarrassed for my country. Embarrassed by what is considered legal in the United States of America. I could feel the lump in my throat coming back.<\/p>\n

As Americans, I feel like we take life for granted. We are so obsessed with preserving and protecting our \u201crights\u201d and our freedom to choose the lifestyle that fits our personal worldview. And while I appreciate being able to live in a country which upholds the rights I enjoy every day, no right can be legitimate if we have to murder children to secure it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m still getting used to Washington, D.C., from figuring out the Metro to the hectic pace. But I hope I never get used to people\u2019s prevalent dismissal of the rights of our weakest citizens. Instead, I’m learning that if I have a passion for standing up for the rights of the unborn, I can\u2019t go very far unless I act on it. That\u2019s exactly why I came to this city; that\u2019s exactly why I stood on that street corner.<\/p>\n

Thirty-five percent<\/a> of Americans believe in the pro-life movement. Think about what would happen if all those Americans who oppose abortion actually did something about it!<\/p>\n

The African man leaning up against the wall was not the only person who gave me a moment of his time that day. I planted a seed in hundreds of minds, and it was as easy as handing out a few magazines on a street corner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is so much each and every one of us can do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":340,"featured_media":36176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMy first week as a Live Action intern: It\u2019s only the beginning - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/my-first-week-as-a-live-action-intern-its-only-the-beginning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My first week as a Live Action intern: It\u2019s only the beginning - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There is so much each and every one of us can do.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/my-first-week-as-a-live-action-intern-its-only-the-beginning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lilysmith423\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-06-07T13:00:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-16T00:51:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Capitol-1024x678.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"678\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lily Smith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@lilysmith423\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lily Smith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/my-first-week-as-a-live-action-intern-its-only-the-beginning\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/my-first-week-as-a-live-action-intern-its-only-the-beginning\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lily Smith\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e2c3b83eec36ab36312a5a66b5278395\"},\"headline\":\"My first week as a Live Action intern: It\u2019s only the beginning\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-07T13:00:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-08-16T00:51:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/my-first-week-as-a-live-action-intern-its-only-the-beginning\/\"},\"wordCount\":883,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Human Rights\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/my-first-week-as-a-live-action-intern-its-only-the-beginning\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/my-first-week-as-a-live-action-intern-its-only-the-beginning\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/my-first-week-as-a-live-action-intern-its-only-the-beginning\/\",\"name\":\"My first week as a Live Action intern: It\u2019s only the beginning - 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