Riley Gaines, an all-American swimmer and outspoken Christian, announced that she was pregnant during the conservative activist group Turning Point USA’s Young Women’s Leadership Summit on Saturday, June 14, going on to reflect on the legacy she hopes to create for her daughter as part of an inspiring speech.
For background, Gaines, a Christian activist who has stood up for girls and women in sports and spoken out against the LGBT agenda, told the crowd at TPUSA’s Young Women’s Leadership Summit that she was pregnant, saying it was “the hardest secret to keep” and adding that she was having a little girl.
After making the announcement during her speech, Gaines said that it felt “surreal,” adding, “It’s kind of the final step in admitting truthfully to ourselves that this is really happening. And in full transparency, I’ve had the most amazing pregnancy.”
Continuing, the Christian athlete told the crowd, “My daughter got to watch as President Trump was inaugurated as the 47th president of the United States. My daughter got to visit the White House and watch inside my stomach as President Trump signed an executive order barring men from participating in women’s sports within any educational program that receives federal funds.”
Next, Gaines reiterated that the pregnancy felt “really real” after sharing the news with the crowd of young women, saying, “It’s clear to me that this isn’t just an issue of politics or policy anymore. It is deeply, deeply personal. I feel this baby, this young girl, kicking around in my stomach when I’m lying down to sleep at night.” She continued, “I see the baby’s tiny little hands and feet on the ultrasounds. I listened to her heartbeat ever since that first 8-week appointment. And guess what? It’s just like yours and mine.”
Gaines went on to use her pregnancy to make a case for the sanctity of unborn life, saying, “That undeniable humanity is growing inside of me has taken my beliefs…to now feel this immovable obligation to defend the right to life.” She added, “Becoming a mother, or a soon-to-be mother, has made me radically pro-life.”
Then, Gaines told the crowd that while pregnancy had not made her “value life any more” than she had before conception, it had “made abortion hurt deeply and viscerally.” She explained, ” It has highlighted how the phrase ‘reproductive freedom’ is totally misleading verbiage…every single woman has the freedom to reproduce…but what no human being should ever have the freedom to do is prematurely end the life of a developing child.”
Near the conclusion of her speech, Gaines called the pro-choice rhetoric of the left “relentless,” adding, “I think it’s easy to unite behind evil in the way that they do because they lack a moral compass and they lack conscience and they certainly lack a backbone…but nonetheless the way they unite together is admirable.” She admonished the crowd to “take a page from their playbook,” saying, “Push on, full steam ahead. Do not become complacent.”
Watch a clip from Gaines’ speech:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video