Notre Dame junior champions adoption over abortion

Hannah Talley is a miracle. She is bright and engaging -- full of life and youthful exuberance. It's a life that would have been cut short had her birth mother chosen abortion over adoption.

Last Friday, the high school junior was among 30 Notre Dame Regional High school students to attend the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Talley held a sign that read: "I march because my birth mom chose adoption."

"It's so powerful to me that my birth mom, she chose to give life instead of aborting me," Talley told me this week. "[That is] really powerful to me because that could have been me, one of the 60 million [babies] that didn't get the same chance. So I'm marching for them and for her choice."

Students from Notre Dame Regional High School pose for a photo at the National March for Life in Washington, D.C.Submitted

Talley's parents, Kent and Becky Talley, talked with her early on about how they adopted her. When it came to abortion, however, it wasn't until seventh grade when Talley studied the issue and decided she was pro-life.

It's her No. 1 issue.

"That's the one thing I will never sway on," she said.

This was her second D.C. march to attend. She talked about the magnitude of the event, including seeing women who regrettably had abortions silently lead the march. It was a solemn, yet moving experience. To see President Donald Trump address the crowd of pro-life activists in person -- the first sitting president to do so -- was a highlight.

"That was really powerful. Knowing that we have our leader of our country standing with the hundreds of thousands of people who were there this weekend, he's there for us and he understands that life matters and it starts from conception all the way until natural death. It was just so amazing hearing him talk about that," she said.

Trump hasn't always been pro-life, but Talley didn't disparage the president for his previously-held views. With more information about abortion facilities and advances in technology, it's reasonable for former abortion proponents to have a change of heart.

"I think it's apparent that we want this to be no more, we don't want abortion anymore," she said. "I think President Trump looking into it more made his opinion change, which is really powerful because our president was pro-choice but now he's pro-life."

Talley is a member of a pro-life club at Notre Dame where about 100 students participate. The club grows in number every year, she said. Members pray for babies in the womb and the women considering abortion. They also engage in activities to honor all stages of life, such as their November activity of writing letters to veterans.

While in the nation's capital, Talley said the Notre Dame group attended the Holocaust Museum where the message of respecting life at all stages continued.

Talley said her generation is considered the "pro-life generation."

"I think the more people I'm around, the more they learn about what happens in abortions and in Planned Parenthood facilities, they become more pro-life because they realize that is just horrible to do. I think if they hear more of my stories or someone who has had an abortion, I think their opinions kind of sway," she said.

She's had peers disagree with her, including some Notre Dame alums. But the opposition hasn't been a deterrent, noting "a child is a child of God."

Talley said the Notre Dame group that attends the march is made up of juniors and seniors, though it's weighted toward juniors. She's looking forward to next year and said more students want to attend.

"We want to support [and] get more and more people to go every year so we have a larger crowd there from our dioceses to show that in Cape Girardeau, Missouri we love babies and we love life," she said.

Talley and her mother volunteer with the Birthright Mom's Club in Cape Girardeau. Any mother with a child under 3 years old can attend, have dinner and talk with other women.

"It's really powerful because those women are in really tough situations and they all chose life. That makes my hold toward pro-life that much stronger," she said.

Talley will be 18 years old later this year, just in time for the presidential election. This will be the issue that determines her vote.

College is not far away. She is considering political science or medical fields, two areas where her pro-life views can be put into practice.

The movie "Unplanned" helped cement her perspective, reinforcing how abortion not only causes pain to and ultimately kills a child but also harms the mother. She urged anyone considering abortion to stop, think and watch one of the numerous pro-life videos on YouTube.

A commercial that was not accepted for this weekend's Super Bowl is making the rounds on social media. The 2-minute video features the stories of 14 people who survived abortions.

These stories and others like Talley's are gripping and a reminder that life, at all stages, matters. Scripture says it this way: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." (Jeremiah 1:5)

Talley's message to those considering abortion is to consider the finality of the decision and its ramifications.

"There's more options," she said. "Pro-choice people, they have one option. It's abortion. We [pro-life individuals] have so many."

Lucas Presson is assistant publisher of the Southeast Missourian.