Students for Life leaders also stressed that the pro-life message extends beyond unborn children to include care for mothers.
“In the gospel, our model is Christ, and he models Christlike love. When we’re engaging with this topic, it’s so important that we are compassionate,” Hartford said. “These women walk through hard things. We should want to care, weep with them, sit with them in grief and that suffering, and offer hope that can only be found in the gospel through Christ.”
“The pro-life mission is to preserve life—both mother and baby,” she continued. “I think sometimes we get caught up in the politics and we’ve lost that love for the mother because she’s facing this really difficult decision of what she’s going to do with her life.”
Hartford emphasized the life-changing decision facing pregnant women.
“This is a life-changing decision. Whether she pursues abortion or whether she chooses life—that is life-altering decision. As Christians we need to come alongside and be compassionate and caring for those mothers and offer that love and care,” she said.
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Hartford added that churches can demonstrate Christ’s love by supporting local pregnancy centers, an area she believes is often overlooked.
Stedman echoed Hartford’s call to action while acknowledging the tension between faith and politics.
“While we do want to avoid the political conflict of it, there are clear commands in Scripture that you can’t just be a hearer—you have to be a doer. Scripture tells us that life is valuable,” she said. “You shouldn’t get into political battles, but you also can’t separate this issue from the way that you vote.”
“All that we do is Christian worldview. All that we do is for the glory of the Lord. It’s hard,” Stedman added.
Hartford reflected on her personal connection to the movement.
“I went to my first March for Life when I was 8 or 10 with my mom,” she said. “I’m adopted, so the pro-life issue has always been near and dear to my heart.”
“I remember a speaker talking about the value and the gift of adoption, and that just really hit home with me,” said Hartford, “and it lit this little passion in my young heart to just be very active in the pro-life movement. I haven’t stopped being vocal about it ever since.”
Watch the full interview here.
