2009 Oratory Contest Winners

First place speech

by Luke Anderson

Snip, crunch, flush. Snip, crunch, flush. These sounds have plagued our hospitals for the past 30 years. These sounds, repeated millions of times since 1973, have brought millions of Americans to their end far too soon. These sounds are the sounds of my generation being destroyed.

Those of us who aren't on the losing side of the "pro-choice" movement have been too quiet for far too long. Our grandparents were too silent when they called them radicals. Our parents were too quiet when they called them extremists. And maybe we all are.

Maybe we are the few who still believe that there is a better way to healing than by killing an innocent human being. Maybe we are radicals; radicals who still believe that murdering is a crime no matter how young the victim may be.

Maybe we are the few who still think that in America, every life should be granted life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; no matter who they are, where they are or how small they are.

The twilight years if America have come, when the rights of many must be defended by a courageous few, a few who refuse to remain silent. It is now my generation's turn to attack the political giant that has brought over 40 million American citizens to their end. It is my generation's turn, our turn. We must get to work. It is our turn to say "no more children will be killed in the name of choice!"

My Grandfather has Parkinson's, a disease that can be debilitating. It's hard for me to sit there and watch him as his hands shake again and again, each shake bringing him closer to death. Many scientists say that the cure for this disease is in a mass of tissue: an embryo. They say my Grandfather's life could be lengthened if society just allows experimentation on embryos. But those embryos are human beings, just like my Grandfather. it is my turn to say "no more children will be killed in the name of science!"

In America today many would like to silence us radicals with our "radical" ideas of human life and dignity. Let's face it; it's been a hard year for us radicals. We've got a president who has increased the U.S. taxpayer funding of international abortion, removed the conscience clause for doctors opposed to abortion and is opening the floodgates on embryonic stem cell research. We have a majority in Congress who agrees with these anti-life decisions.

Let's face it, we're in exile; we're the radicals in hiding. We are waiting for a leader. At this moment we are standing at the end of our history and at the beginning of our future when we must decide whether we will step out and cross over that valley of indifference in faith, or abandon our charge and stay on this side of defeat. it is our turn to say "no more children will be killed!"

The day will come when we will walk the streets leading up to the pearly gates and on either side we will see the children never born, the parents never made, the leaders that never led, the scientists that never cured, the lives that were never lived, all from the excuse of choice.

There they will stand. There we will be surrounded by our past; by our mistakes. The question is how long will that road be? Enough to allow 40, 50, 60 million to line it's curb?

Will we allow the apathy of our past generations to define who we will become; that apathy has let millions die, while we sat at home and watched the years pass. Those years have brought us to this moment, the moment when my generation must lead us into our future, a future where we will not have to see the children of our tomorrows bloodied and torn in the clean and bleached rooms of our today. We need a new generation committed to the life, liberty and happiness that our ancestors dreamed for us and our children. A new generation who will define the very essence of the word of courage. We need a generation that will stand up and fight for our brothers and sisters and sons and daughters that would otherwise be eliminated. It is our turn to say no more children need to die.

Join with me, a radical, and become what the kids in the womb need; a protector. We all have been endowed with the greatest gifts of all: life. We must use this life with power and determination to grant it to those who do not have it. We are all on this planet together so let's give ourselves the only insurance of our future, the endurance of life. Ronald Reagan once said that "human life legislation will someday pass the Congress, and you and I must never rest until it does."

Radicals, it is our time to get to work.