Address at SBL List Campaign for Life Gala - April 21, 2016

Thank you so much.

I am so grateful to be here today, part of a long line of women and hardcore patriots and Americans that are protecting and fighting for life.

To be honest with you, I don't feel like I'm worthy of receiving such a cause, such an award. I feel as if this is not a pastime for me. It's certainly not a hobby. I believe it's a moral responsibility that we all have. Whether it's my dad, who was janitor, or my mom was a nurse or whether you're a member of Congress or whether you're a CEO or a student, every single one of us have an obligation to care for those who cannot care for themselves and have a voice for those who do not have a voice for themselves. And there is no more worthy of a cause than fighting for our unborn.

I wanted to share something with you. My husband loves Oreo cookies. I mean, he just absolutely loves them. And I remember when my daughter, my oldest daughter was just turned two. I took her to Costco with me and we bought a bunch of Oreo cookies and I had this idea that I was going to put a tablecloth over the table and I was going to make this beautiful design with these Oreo cookies. So I started lining them up and I made this perfect pyramid.

And my daughter said, "Mommy, I want a cookie," and I so I said okay. I gave her one cookie and I was able to replace it in the pyramid. And when she was done she said, "Mommy, I need another cookie." And I said, "Okay, but this is your last one, because I only have one more to complete the pyramid. Look how pretty Mommy's pyramid is, and that's for Daddy." So she ate it and she said, of course, "Mommy I want another cookie." And I said, "No, no more cookies."

And I said, "Alessa, do not touch Daddy's cookies. He's about to come and we want to make sure that he sees this pretty little pyramid that we did for him." So she said, "Okay, Mommy." So I went into the bathroom, got myself ready. I was not there for more than 10 minutes, I promise. I come out and the cookies are everywhere and her face is covered with black crumbs and her hands and her clothes just covered with black crumbs.

And I said, "Aleesa, did you eat Daddy's cookies?" She said, "No, Mom." So I asked again. I said, "Aleesa, you've got crumbs all over your face and your hands. Did you eat Daddy's cookie?" She said, "No, Mom, I didn't eat Daddy's cookies." I said, "Aleesa, it's bad to lie. You can't lie to Mommy. I'm gonna give you one more chance us to tell me. Did you eat Daddy's cookies?" She said, "No, Mom. I eat the frosting." And I looked, and sure enough she took every—I mean you could see the little teeth mark in the frosting—she put it back, took…

The reason why I tell you this is because my children have often been a frustration, but it's so temporary that they bring so much joy into your life. I remember being so frustrated but I remember that as one of the most wonderful times where I was able to see this clever, young girl grow up to want to be a rocket scientist. She is so self-motivated and I'm telling you right now, I couldn't be more proud of my children.

In this day and age, we have a Congress that doesn't work very well and it's really disheartening to see so many people not value human life. That's who we are—we're Americans, we value human life. We need to stop treating people like liabilities that need to be managed.

Every time a mother goes into an abortion clinic, there was no one there to advocate for her. And understand, we're not just talking about legal-aged mothers here. We're talking about our minors, sometimes as young as 13, 14, 15, that has to give consent to have an invasive procedure and then give consent to give up that child's organs. It's absolutely outrageous to me

And every time I go into a select panel meeting, every time I listen to debate on the floor, every time I listen to the news, I think of my two girls and know that that could be them.

And that's the perspective I bring. There's a human aspect to this. This is not about a right or left issue. This is a right and wrong issue.

So you can only imagine I pose a problem for the other party.

I was listening on the floor one day. I wasn't supposed to speak on the floor but I was listening and I heard a man—I couldn't believe it—argue for the death of these children and said—pointed over to the Republican side and said—"This is nothing but a ploy by the caucus of angry white men."

So of course, not being asked to speak, I go to my staff and I said, "Turn on the TV. I'm about to go…." And I ran down to the floor and I said, "I don't know if you've noticed. I'm not angry, I'm not white and I'm not a male. What I am is disappointed, disappointed that this day and age in this country we would not fight for human life. Our job is to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, first and foremost life." And I looked at him and I just said, "Do your job."

The greatest gift that I have ever been given—I can think about two, actually, two greatest gifts I've ever been given. One is being able to be born in this life, to draw breath to try and reach my potential, to be able to go and realize that the world does not revolve around us, that we have to use our God-given talents to do everything we can to be useful and helpful in our communities, in our state and in our country.

The second greatest gift that I've ever been given was to be a mother, to be able to bring these children into the world and see them develop. What a great loss it would be for these children—who can grow up to be scientists, doctors, motivators, teachers—to not have the opportunity to reach their potential.

I pray and I hope that when I pass from this life that my family, my children and the people that are around me that have been able to share this great life with me would say, "Mia did everything she could to preserve and give back the gifts that were given to her."

So, my friends, in this battle…. Now I know that there's a target on our backs, but I tell them to give me everything they've got, bring everything that they've got to the table, because I'm certainly not going to hold back. I'm going to give them everything I've got.

And I pray that we continue to fight on and do everything we can to make sure that we are saving one more potential, one more asset, one more American, one more life.

May god bless you all.

Thank you for making sure that I don't feel alone in this fight.

May God bless you and may God bless this still, I believe, pro-life country.

Thank you.