Liz Mooney, one of the National Leaders Collective’s leaders of the month, is a Students for Life of America Thaddeus Stevens Fellow and homeschool student from Adamstown, MD. Learn more about Mooney’s activism below. 

I fight for Life primarily because I am a Christian. If science tells us life begins at conception, why would I not protect preborn babies from being killed? When I first learned what the word “abortion” meant, I was horrified and was in denial about abortions being common at all. As the year passed, I began to understand how big of a problem abortion was. I joined a Students for Life group, and I found my passion.

It was not until an encounter with a baseball cap that I realized God was calling me to fight in the pro-life movement for the rest of my life. I was praying outside Planned Parenthood with my family when my mom saw a man wearing a baseball cap with the name of the high school she went to. Because of that connection, she struck up a conversation with him and came to find out he was the president of Frederick County Right to Life! That led her to telling him about my pro-life activism on campus, and he invited me to speak at the FRTL first student rally! Through that experience, I discovered my love for speaking, and I learned how God was calling me to use that gift to work in the pro-life movement!

I began my pro-life leadership in 10th grade when I became president of my student group. Over the last year, Students for Life has helped me grow as a leader in various ways, and my SFL Regional Coordinator, Rachel Nesmith, has been a big part of that growth. She taught me more about the evils of abortion, how to be a good leader, and how to effectively fight for Life.

As soon as I heard about the National Leaders Collective, I knew I wanted to join and applied right away. Soon after, I was accepted into the Thaddeus Stevens Fellowship for this year, and I have absolutely loved it. It has been amazing to work with and learn from other pro-life leaders. All of the amazing women I have worked with this year have inspired me in so many ways.  

This year, we partnered with our school’s Turning Point group to help fundraise for our local Pregnancy Centers. So far, we have raised nearly $4,000! With that money, we gifted our local Pregnancy Centers with 32 car seats and $600 worth of diapers. We are also expecting more donations to continue coming!

Along with fundraising, our group participated in two local Rallies for Life, one adult and one youth. I had the opportunity to speak at both on the issue of hookup culture and abortion. This month, we also participated in 40 Days for Life. We put together a prayer team to pray outside Planned Parenthood on Fridays. In March, we spent four hours outside the abortion clinic. 

Having the opportunity to work with other pro-life leaders through NLC has been my favorite part of the program. Seeing everyone bring different talents to the pro-life movement and being able to work together as a team has been amazing.