Teen Mom Says ‘Culture of Death’ Was Her Biggest Struggle in Keeping Her Child

A teen mom opened up about her struggle to keep her son, now 1 year old, at the National Life Day Rally commemorating the one-year anniversary of the overturn of Roe v. Wade. 

“This culture of death that we’ve created surrounding abortion has not only led people to want to kill their children, to kill their children, but has also pushed parents who want to keep their children to [kill their children],” Kaylee Stockton, the teen mom, told The Daily Signal (emphasis original). She held her son in one arm and with the other held a sign reading, “This Teen Mom didn’t build her success off of murdering her child.”

Stockton, who gave birth to her son at 18 years old, attended the Life Day Rally, sponsored by Students for Life of America, at the base of the Lincoln Memorial steps this past Saturday. She told The Daily Signal that to continue to build a pro-life America, pro-lifers must continue to hold events like the rally.

Stockton related that she personally struggled to overcome this culture of death in deciding to keep her son. 

“I think my biggest struggles as a teen mom was not the tiredness of it all, not just the normal things that motherhood brings, but I got a lot of pressure to abort,” she told The Daily Signal. “The constant comments that I couldn’t do it, that I was too young, that was my biggest thing.”

When asked how to continue to fight for a pro-life nation, Stockton said, “bringing awareness is the most important [thing], changing minds and hearts, and not just legislating.”  

At the rally celebrating “Life Day,” presidential candidate Mike Pence told the youth: “We gather here knowing that we’ve not come to the end of this cause, we’ve come to the end of the beginning … the work for life goes on, all across America.” 

Hundreds of teens holding their homemade pro-life signs rallied around Pence’s call to continue the pro-life movement. 

Another young woman, Shaohannah Tavares, held a sign that said, “I’m proof that adoption is a loving option.”

“I was adopted as a toddler from China,” Tavares told The Daily Signal. “My birth mom chose life for me and I am very grateful for her decision and just the fact that she made such a courageous decision in a very hard period of her life to do that, so that I could be standing here with you today.”

Tavares was proud to be at the rally celebrating “Life Day” and explained that the purpose of the Students for Life rally is “to celebrate life and to celebrate the progress we made. Roe was the roadblock to creating a culture of life, and so that’s what we are here to celebrate [its overturning] … then we are also moving forward to give equal justice to human beings.”

While hundreds of pro-lifers rallied for life, a group of about eight protesters tried to disrupt the crowd before the rally began. 

At the base of the memorial steps, pro-abortion protesters held signs that read, “Stop Prosecuting Abortion.” These signs had the logo “reproaction” printed on them, which is an organization devoted to increasing abortion access.

One lone male protester held a sign that said, “Abortion access saves lives” on one side and “Be gay, fund abortion,” on the other side. He approached a few senior adults, before the event began, and said, “Only old people show up.” 

Around 10:30 a.m., a flock of teens arrived to celebrate Life Day. The male protester immediately grabbed his megaphone and began shouting, “Abortion is health care.”

The teens responded by standing about 10 feet in front of the protesters with their pro-life signs and chanting, “Abortion is murder. Abortion is oppression.” The male pro-abortionist responded by stepping in front of them and shouting, “Abortion is health care,” into his megaphone. 

At this point, the teens joined in a circle and began leading more pro-life chants as the police escorted the protesters out of the area.

The man later appeared at the women’s march taunting pro-lifers who were protesting peacefully and silently holding their signs. He told them to “f— off.”

Meanwhile, the pro-life teens continued to shout their chants to celebrate Life Day, which included: 

One, two, three, four, Roe v. Wade is out the door; five, six, seven, eight, now it’s time to legislate.

We are the pro-life generation, and we will abolish abortion.

Show me what a pro-life feminist looks like. This is what a pro-life feminist looks like.

The teens chanted these slogans at the Life Day Rally and displayed their homemade pro-life signs.

One youth held a sign reading, “I defended Planned Parenthood but … Planned Parenthood never defended me!!”

Another sign read: “Jewish rights begin in the womb.” 

Still others read: “Live Laugh Life” and “Everyone deserves a Birthday” 

One group held a series of signs that read, “A person’s a person no matter how small – Dr. Seuss” and “Americans are born to be free. If only they were free to be born.” 

On the other side, their messages joined together to say “All Are Created Equal.” 

At the Life Day Rally, a pro-life women held a sign that read, “This is not the end, it is the beginning of a country that values life.”

On the backside it said, “God is the author of life. Therefore, humans have no right to unjustly assume the role of executioner.”

Anna Lulis with Students for Life of America held a sign that said, “One Year since Roe was reversed more than 32,000 Unwanted babies have been saved.” 

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