88. Unraveling Feminism and Embracing Life: Lindsey's Journey from Planned Parenthood to God

When Lindsey first stepped through the doors of a Planned Parenthood clinic as an intern, she didn't expect her entire worldview to unravel. Yet, it was here, amidst the convergence of politics, ideology, and raw human emotion, that she began a journey that would challenge the very core of her beliefs about feminism, choice, and life itself. Our Radiant Mission podcast is honored to share the extraordinary narrative of a former radical feminist and Master of Social Work graduate as she navigates the treacherous waters of personal transformation and finds anchorage in the harbors of spirituality and a belief in God.

The tapestry of Lindsey's life is woven with threads from her childhood, her bold embrace of activism, and the profound revelations that arose during her time at Planned Parenthood. Her story is not one of political discourse but a vulnerable examination of autonomy and agency. As she recounts her experiences and the encounters that reshaped her understanding, we gain a unique insight into the complexities of college women's perceptions of abortion and the critical nature of informed consent. The weight of these realities, once obscured, becomes glaringly evident as Lindsey peels back the layers of emotion and ethics entangled in the choice of terminating a pregnancy.

In a concluding reflection, this episode traverses the emotional landscape that follows such a decision, revealing Lindsey's path to truth and a newfound reverence for life. Her spiritual awakening after witnessing an abortion illuminates our discussion, merging science, morality, and faith. We discuss the essence of empowerment and control, pondering whether true autonomy exists against the powerful currents of cultural influence. Join us on a profound exploration of the sacred and the everyday, where Lindsey's metamorphosis serves as a testament to the power of God.

Transcript

Rebecca Twomey: 0:32

Hello and welcome to the Radiant Mission podcast. My name is Rebecca Twomey and we are on a mission to encourage and inspire you as you're navigating through this wildlife and with your relationship with Yahweh. We are currently in a series called God's Design for Women's Health. If you're tuning in for the very first time, welcome. We're so glad you're here Today. We are welcoming a very special guest to share her story and I have to preface this. It is such an incredible testimony.

Rebecca Twomey: 1:06

Lindsay holds a master of social work from the University of Buffalo and is living, breathing proof that facts and real science can change even the most radical, angry leftist. Her quote Lindsay considers herself a recovered radical feminist who changed her views of the world and politics through meaningful conversations and firsthand experiences of leftist ideology in action. Having earned her master's degree in social work, she hopes to use the tenets of the profession in her everyday life to foster important conversations just like this one, and she invites others to challenge their beliefs. During her time as a social worker, lindsay has worked with youth in multiple settings, such as in-home, community and schools, and Lindsay's experiences as a social work intern at Planned Parenthood is what brings her here today. Lindsay, thank you so much for joining me today.

Lindsey Lalka: 2:07

Thank you so much for letting me come on and share my story. I am so excited.

Rebecca Twomey: 2:11

Me too. I am really looking forward to you sharing your story. I'll give a little background for those listening. Lindsay and I met on Instagram when I came across a video about what happens during an abortion and Lindsay was in the comments and she bravely shared a very brief version of her experience working at Planned Parenthood. And we got to talking and I'm just so grateful for your willingness to come and share your story. So I'd love if you could just start off by sharing a little bit about your background and what was your upbringing like?

Lindsey Lalka: 2:49

Yeah. So my upbringing, I'll say it, was pretty chaotic. You know my mom and my dad we were, I would say, around like middle class. I went to public school. We were not involved in church at all, so I didn't really have that as part of my upbringing. Lot of issues that surfaced in my teen years that made parenting very difficult for her and later in life I realized that before she had me she lost two children. Oh, I'm so sorry. Yeah, it's very sad, but I think that that kind of sets the tone, for you know what we're going to talk about and you know that that experience for her definitely had such a profound impact on you know, the trajectory of her life and everything.

Lindsey Lalka: 3:52

So after public school I ended up going to a Franciscan college in Hamburg, new York, called Hilbert, and that's when I realized I wanted to be a social worker, you know, talking to the professors and everything. I was like this is my calling, like I definitely wanted to go into the helping field and I applied to UB to get my MSW. I got into the program. I was there for two years at first and then I took a break and then I finished my master's program kind of right when COVID started, so around 2020 is when I graduated.

Rebecca Twomey: 4:34

Perfect time to graduate. Huh yeah, wild times. So I'm curious about you feeling called to social work. Was there any particular incident that made you feel you know I want to go into social work? Was there something that happened or it just was a feeling that you knew you could help other people through that?

Lindsey Lalka: 4:56

So I think, like I mentioned, with my upbringing, I talked a lot to the school social workers and they really helped me. You know, during difficult times in my life when I was in high school and I thought, wow, it would be so cool to like be that adult for, you know, children, whether it was in a school setting or just a community setting to be kind of like a guidance, you know, through this life, that is so crazy, especially when you're in high school. I mean, there's so much going on. That is kind of what really made me think. Like you know, I want to get into the helping profession. I want to help people, which I think everyone says when they go into that field. So that's kind of what led me to there.

Rebecca Twomey: 5:40

Yeah, that's interesting. Now I have to touch on this. You mentioned leftist feminist movement and kind of termed it that way. What attracted you to that movement? Was it something that you kind of feel like you always were a part of or chose to be a part of as you got older? Tell me about your background with that.

Lindsey Lalka: 6:02

So I would say, in undergrad is when it was something that I realized I wanted to become a part of.

Lindsey Lalka: 6:10

I would say, in like junior year of undergrad I had to take some classes like senior seminar or not senior seminar, junior symposium, where we had to get a subscription to the New York Times and every week we would read an article and discuss like the politics about it, you know the social aspects of it, and it would just be like an open discussion.

Lindsey Lalka: 6:35

And that's where I started hearing, you know, about feminism and then about racism, racial inequality, all you know classes, all of those different kind of buzzwords were coming up during classes and I was like, oh my gosh, like I'm in the helping field, I'm trying to be like a champion for these people that are like so oppressed and so I need to like get on board with that. And you know the feminist movement and the other part of it, I think, was like the whole sticking it to the man, because you know, when you're like in your late teens, early 20s, that's kind of like the big, you know drive for that time like they're making a chain. You know going to rallies, you know you're talking about really serious issues in like a classroom setting and I think a lot of the professors, especially for my specific field, were in that movement as well, and I'm sure that there was some kind of trickle down effect. That definitely happened.

Rebecca Twomey: 7:46

Yeah, for sure, I was an English major in college and so in liberal arts, as I'm sure in social work, it's a whole thing. There are whole groups. So I understand where you're coming from in that perspective of just it's part of the culture in many ways. There are some things that even for me, I remember specific weeks where there were questions posed to us that I mean I'm talking, I'm 15 plus years out of college and I still remember and to this day go interesting that they were kind of propagandizing certain trajectories, right. So I'm curious, because you're much fresher out of this what did feminism or what does feminism mean in those circles and in those groups for you? What did being a feminist mean to you for?

Lindsey Lalka: 8:44

you what? What did being a feminist mean to you During that time? It meant, um, you know, gaining power of my own body, which I think ties into the whole. Like you know, abortion topic, um, being able to do what you want. Like men can't tell you to do anything. Smash the patriarchy, all of that. You know the key slogans that they talk about, and at that time it just it meant like women and not even being equal, but being superior to men, and I think that that was a message that was kind of hidden. I remember that there were some men in the classroom, like during my senior year, that were like asking questions like you know, what is feminism about? And they said like being a straight white male, I feel like I'm targeted when I've never done anything. And I thought that at the time I was like, well, they shouldn't be talking or saying anything. But now it's like, well, yeah, of course they probably did feel targeted. Um, so that was what it meant, you know, at the time, for me to be like a feminist.

Rebecca Twomey: 9:54

That's interesting. And if you thought, if you think about that from the flip side, if you had been in a room and men were talking about well men, men should control things and men need to be the bosses over all women and and all that, could you imagine how uncomfortable you'd be in that same scenario from the flip side of it? It is interesting when we think about it from that other side.

Lindsey Lalka: 10:20

It is especially like hindsight is definitely 2020. Like thinking now it's like I feel so bad for those you know, college kids that were probably just like I'm trying to get an education and just try to get through college and I'm like the bad person.

Rebecca Twomey: 10:49

Yeah, absolutely. Now what about the pro-choice side of things?

Lindsey Lalka: 10:50

Obviously, this is going to be a huge part of your experience that you're going to share today.

Lindsey Lalka: 10:52

What made you feel like pro-choice was the right choice for you at that time?

Lindsey Lalka: 10:59

Again, going back to having power over my own body, the whole bodily autonomy thing, and that kind of went hand in hand with what I wanted for my career. I wanted to, you know, be a social worker, go into that profession, um, and social work is all about empowering clients to make informed choices. You know, make their own decisions, um, keyword being informed because, um, we weren't entirely informed in certain aspects during, you know, the social work field, um, and even like day-to-day stuff, like with the whole, um, planned Parenthood thing, they're not informing them about exactly what they're going to be going into, um, when they walk into that clinic. So that was really what it was for me, um, you know, not telling someone else what to do, like, at the time I don't know if I had gotten pregnant in undergrad, if I would have gone through with that Cause, since I was still like, uh, for being your own person, being able to do whatever you wanted to do, um I to do. I just didn't want to tell anyone else what to do with their own body.

Rebecca Twomey: 12:09

Yeah. Do you feel like, at that time in college, women that were a part of the pro-choice movement? Do you think they really understood what it means to have an abortion, what really happens during an abortion? Or do you feel that there is a good understanding and, even with that understanding, it doesn't matter. They just want to make the choice whether to abort or not? I'm just curious. This is my own curiosity.

Lindsey Lalka: 12:44

I would say they don't know, because I didn't know. Going into being an intern at Planned Parenthood, I had no idea what it entailed. I just heard what other people would say it's a couple of cells, it's going to be an easy procedure, it's going to be normal, that type of thing, it's going to be normal, that type of thing. And then after I realized is and know the procedure and know what it looks like, I don't know if they just don't care or if, like you said, they just want to be able to make that choice for themselves of yes, I know what this entails and I'm going to do it.

Rebecca Twomey: 13:38

Yeah, and we're going to get into kind of the details of what you experienced, to kind of the details of what you experienced. But it reminds me of I once read a comment from a thread similar to the one that you and I were on, and maybe even in the same one, where someone said something like well, this isn't entirely accurate, because when I had an abortion, they killed the fetus first before removing it, and it just like my heart sank because to me it was like both instances, whether the child was killed before or after, you know what, at whatever point during the procedure, know what, at whatever point during the procedure it, it just spoke to. The fact that she used the word kill felt made me feel very like you understand that something is being killed here, a human being. But we're going to get into that. So, I love, could you tell us a little bit about what led you to interning at Planned Parenthood and then what happened? What was your experience?

Lindsey Lalka: 14:48

So I initially wanted to intern. When I was an undergrad I went to, like I said, a Franciscan college and what? I suggested that one of my for one of one, because you have to do two internships. One internship I wanted to go to Planned Parenthood and they did not. One internship I wanted to go to Planned Parenthood and they did not. They were like no, you can't do that. So when I went to UB I suggested to their co-educators so I said you know, I see that Planned Parenthood is in here.

Lindsey Lalka: 15:15

I think that a social worker in the clinic or wherever in Planned Parenthood would be really beneficial in Planned Parenthood would be really beneficial. Um, so it wasn't part of the program until I brought it up and then they kind of made that um like section for me. I guess it was like a pilot, uh thing for a social worker intern to be at Planned Parenthood. So I had a lot of like free range to do not really anything I wanted, but I could be everywhere. I was in clinics, I was in there's like a youth program there where, like after school it's like based around theater and also learning about like education, like sexual education stuff like that.

Lindsey Lalka: 16:02

So I was in that I went to the call center that's over in Rochester, which was really interesting, where all the calls will come in and they kind of get triaged or people will have questions because you can't directly call the clinic as easily. So I did that. There was a mobile, like a big RV, that would go to different schools and they would provide um reproductive care, quote unquote. Mainly it was like STI, std testing, um, so there was that. And then, um, I was at the surgical clinic, um, which that is a place where you women will go and get surgical abortions. If it was too far along for a medical abortion, it was only like one time a week, or not a week, one time a month that they would do this.

Rebecca Twomey: 16:53

Wow.

Lindsey Lalka: 16:54

Okay, and that was where I essentially realized that it was. This was not for me as far as like being at Planned Parenthood and, you know, being someone that is pro-choice. So I still remember to this day like walking into the clinic and there was a girl that was working there and she had a shirt on that said abortion is a gift from god, and that was a shirt she wore in the clinic like people could see her. People who are coming in during a very difficult time, who are like, okay, I have to get this abortion, or feeling like they have to. And that is the attire that she chose to wear, which I ended up like talking about later with my supervisor. So that was like the first kind of like taste I had of what that day was going to be like wow so I met with some of the uh women who were there.

Lindsey Lalka: 18:05

like, before they do the uh procedure, you have to sign off paperwork. So I met with them, um, and while I kind of shadowed, while the nurse went over the paperwork with them, gave them medication to calm their nerves, essentially like painkillers Um, some of them were prescribed volumes, I think and just getting them ready for this is what you're going to about going to be doing.

Rebecca Twomey: 18:31

Um, what is the paperwork for? Just stating their risks? Or does it tell them? Or do the women even read it? Or do they just sign it and move on?

Lindsey Lalka: 18:42

Sometimes they didn't even read it. Um, um, the nurse would like go over like. This is like a consent form, essentially that you're consenting to that you're going to be getting an abortion. Um, and I don't. I don't think I watched any of the girls actually sit there and read what they were signing, cause there's risks associated right.

Rebecca Twomey: 19:05

Like you could perforate your uterus or cause other damage and I'm sure most women probably like. When we go to any appointment, just sign at the bottom.

Lindsey Lalka: 19:16

Right, yeah, not really knowing and that goes back to the whole informed consent thing not knowing what you're going to entail, what the risks are, um, which is really sad when you think about it because, like, potentially like someone you know, having something like that happen during an abortion and then it escalating to needing an ambulance or something I don't know.

Rebecca Twomey: 19:46

It was just kind of wild that Do they explain what they're doing during the procedure, or how do they explain what's going to happen during the procedure?

Lindsey Lalka: 19:57

So they do that once they're already in the room. Um, and I remember the uh abortionist was mentioning you know that you're going to feel some gentle suctioning, but it sounds like you know how, when you go to a dentist and they tried to, once they rinse out your mouth and they're getting all like the fluid out of your mouth with a little suction thing. That's what it sounded like, um, and you could see, because I was in the room, you could see that she, she was obviously in pain and it wasn't gentle, um, but they do talk them through what they're doing. You know the woman saying you know I'm going to be dilating the uterus with these different like long tools that they have to do and then suctioning out what's inside the uterus, which is a baby, but that's not what they say, right no?

Lindsey Lalka: 21:09

Do they use fetus, or do they just say like contents, or I can't remember exactly what the verbiage was, because I was kind of shocked.

Rebecca Twomey: 21:14

I'm sure.

Lindsey Lalka: 21:16

Seeing exactly what it was.

Lindsey Lalka: 21:19

I remember my supervisor at the time was right next to the woman and like holding her hand and everything which I Um, I remember my supervisor at the time was right next to the woman and like holding her hand and everything which I thought I mean, how much bedside manner can you have during a situation like that?

Lindsey Lalka: 21:32

Um, but it was very quick. And then they um, take the contents of what comes out and it's in a bag and it's immediately taken out of the room and then afterwards they, you know, tell the woman who's laying there. You know you're going to be bleeding for a while, we're going to put you in our recovery room and you're going to be there for like a couple hours until you can walk and you feel better and then you can go home, um, and then, after all that was done and she was in the recovery room, the girl that had the t-shirt on that I mentioned earlier and another staff member were like almost giddy to see um, I'm gonna call it a baby, the baby afterwards, and they were just talking about how cool it looked and like, oh, I love looking at, like um, like you know, medical stuff, and just like talking about it like they were seeing, like I don't know, something completely different. Given, like the circumstances, I don't know, it was just like it's like they were looking at fossils from a museum or something.

Lindsey Lalka: 22:52

It sounds like yeah, exactly like they were so like stoked about it and it was a living, breathing baby, not long.

Rebecca Twomey: 23:00

And now I'd like to hear a little bit about the timing, because you mentioned that these are abortions that are past the point where they're giving medication. So how many weeks gestation was this baby and how many weeks gestation would some of the other babies would have been during this day.

Lindsey Lalka: 23:25

I want to say this one specifically was I don't know why 17 weeks sounds like the right number, cause I remember asking at some point like am I see to see it? Because I wanted to get the full experience. And I know that it might be like a bad, like I probably shouldn't have asked to see it, but I wanted to know what it looked like.

Lindsey Lalka: 23:53

Okay, and she said I don't know if you should, it was pretty far along wow and I was like I've seen, like you know I've hunted before, like it's fine, like I did not really think anything of it, and I went into the back room and I was by myself and you see this baby in a pyrex dish and during that moment I was like this, this is not okay. Yeah, um, you know, before we like when, if you're getting like a medication abortion I believe it has to be I want to say under 12 weeks that you can get one Um, and at that time they say that you're going to pass something that's a claw the size of a lemon. But I'm sure that you've seen people on Instagram or TikTok say you're not just passing a claw, you're passing an actual child, it's a baby that's coming out.

Rebecca Twomey: 24:57

Yes, absolutely. I have had two miscarriages myself and they've both been very early miscarriages, around five to six weeks, and your body goes through labor at five to six weeks. So I could only imagine a baby at 17 weeks. A mother would have gone through labor had she gone, had a miscarriage at 17 weeks and that's a very large size baby.

Lindsey Lalka: 25:25

That must have been very difficult for you to see it was and I thought you know by like the, how the other two co-workers were taught, where people were talking about it, I was like, oh, it's, I'll be fine, like it's not going to affect me, it's just a medical procedure, I'll be okay. And I was totally not like okay. After I saw that um, yeah it. That is definitely the moment that changed my entire perspective on abortion.

Rebecca Twomey: 25:58

Um, yeah, tell us about that. What changed after that moment for you?

Lindsey Lalka: 26:05

um, I, I just realized like that, more it became more clear to me that I've been lied by the leftists and, you know, the feminists of it's just a clump of cells, it's not. You know, an actual baby like this isn't murder. And I realized that at that time, like that was murder, like I watched someone in the name of you know bodily autonomy and empowerment, murder their child because they felt like it was the right decision for them.

Rebecca Twomey: 26:37

Yeah, yeah, oh, wow. That's so heartbreaking. Yeah, yeah, oh, wow. That's so heartbreaking for that mother who was swayed into that. First of all and I'm sure that, being in the field that you're in, you've probably also come across a lot of the residual trauma that comes from abortion, and that's something that isn't talked about. Abortion is praised in communities as being a woman's choice. It's a woman's choice to kill the baby inside of her. Yet there isn't the same rallying around the women who have been coaxed into this experience and then now have to deal with the after effects because you just had a baby effects because you just had a baby, even though this baby was removed from you by a doctor. She's now going to go through all of the postpartum hormones that come along with the baby now not being in her body, and I just think about how heartbreaking that must be for so many of these women that were convinced that this was the right thing to do for your career or for your life. Your life would have been ruined, or whatever the case might be. It's just a heartbreaking thing, and I really thank you for sharing this story with us, because I know how important it is for us to talk about as a society Because, like you said, there are movements that are pushing the other side and pushing that other agenda so hard, and the truth of the matter is that these are children, human children, that are being destroyed for convenience, you know, and of course, there's always the argument of well, what about the cases of rape, or the cases of incest, or the cases of this? And now I'm going to share my own personal opinion on this. This is, you know, podcasts that I'm running here. It's my opinion. My answer to those comments would be how does murder fix any of that? How does murder solve the original crime that happened? It doesn't. It doesn't solve the problem. If anything, you're creating additional trauma on top of it. So, again, personal opinion here. But it really is just, it's a heartbreaking thing to watch.

Rebecca Twomey: 29:16

I really am grateful for liveactionorg, which is an Instagram page on well, they're also on Facebook and YouTube. I'm really grateful that they have been exposing the actual procedures over the last few years, because I think that people are so numb to what actually happens during an abortion, because there are words that are used that say, like you mentioned earlier, a clump of cells. It's just a little bit of tissue, and I can tell you, I saw the baby that came out of me. That was only five weeks old. It was the size of a grain of rice and it had already begun to form. It had a little head, little ears, little nose at five weeks and I can only imagine, at 17 weeks or even beyond, these late-term abortions that people are getting right before the baby's about to be born.

Rebecca Twomey: 30:13

I'm a part of a Facebook group called 22 Matters and it is a group for women whose babies come at 22 weeks and are born in NICUs and these babies live at 22, 23, 24, 25 weeks. So to think about a baby at 17 weeks, just a month later, would have been supported in certain hospitals. Of course, not all are going to support a micro preemie like that, but it just. It's such a heartbreaking, it's heartbreaking where our society has gone this path, that they've gone down.

Rebecca Twomey: 30:55

And of course you know we're going to talk a little bit about the spiritual side of this and kind of it's interesting. The shirt that you mentioned that the woman was wearing, that mentions God, because God is not. It doesn't have anything to do with supporting abortion. I can tell you that right now, if anything, god abhors abortion. You know he isn't. He would never support the murder of human life and it is only darkness that is supporting that industry again my opinion. So tell me a little bit about your experience with God in this, because you had mentioned you didn't grow up going to church and you didn't really grow up around this kind of information about God or Jesus necessarily. So what happened after this?

Lindsey Lalka: 31:50

us necessarily. So what happened after this? So, after this, um, I kind of started thinking like, if, if this is being, if this is something that I was lied to about, what else am I being lied to about? Um, you know, from everything, from religion to, you know, uh, critical race theory, to all of, like, the leftist ideologies that are pushed um, and I started to question, like you know what, why did I feel so empty and like disgusted when I saw that baby? Like, is it? Like? Is it God? Is it? You know what exactly brought out those emotions?

Lindsey Lalka: 32:31

And throughout my whole, I guess, college experience, I've had people ask me, you know, field educators, professors, like ask me about my relationship with God, which I think is really interesting.

Lindsey Lalka: 32:43

Even now, like I'm not in a profession like the social work profession, I still have people asking me that.

Lindsey Lalka: 32:52

So I think that that just tells me that God has put me in these situations I don't know if to reach me or that he has like a bigger meaning than I can even understand.

Lindsey Lalka: 33:07

Um, but it really just got me thinking about all the other things that I've potentially been lying to and kind of looking on the flip side of what I had believed for years, years, and it opened my eyes to, you know, maybe there is a god, maybe there is um clearly evil out there, and it that whole experience at Planned Parenthood really confirmed for me that there is evil in this world, um, so then that means there has to be good, right, um, and that kind of led me to the place where I am now, where I do believe in God. I believe that um, jesus was real in everything about. You know that, see, I'm not very well versed in religion and the Bible and something that I'm very, you know, in my infancy stages of that, but it's definitely just changed my perspective on not even just a religious aspect of abortion, but the, um, the scientific aspect of it.

Rebecca Twomey: 34:19

Mm-hmm, that's beautiful, and we'll have to talk more about some stuff and I'll give you some resources because it's beautiful. I love the journey that you're on. I'm so glad that the Lord has touched your life and I do agree with you that sometimes he puts us in situations that are hard or challenging, and I really feel like it's him opening our eyes and dropping the veil that we might have between us and the world, and what the world is trying to sell us, and then what he's really trying to tell us this entire time, that maybe we just don't want to listen. You know we don't hear it, or perhaps we aren't haven't been exposed to him in his presence yet. So I think that you've got some beautiful things to come, sister. I'm excited for you. Thank you. Now I would love if you would just you know, what do you want to share with listeners about the feminist movement and about abortion? What would you want to tell other people that might be sucked into either of those areas or curious about them?

Lindsey Lalka: 35:30

So, with the feminist movement I mentioned earlier before how it's kind of positioned as having control over your body, control over what you can do with your life, and I guess I want to have people that are sucked into it ask themselves how much control do you really have? And, for example, like the women or the young girls who are doing things that feel maybe good in the moment, not really thinking through some of the things that they're doing, whether it's like going out and partying or, you know, having relations with other people in a way that's not serious. Um, you know, really think about who is controlling you in this situation. Is it you, cause I mean it could very well it could be, and to that I mean it is what it is. Um, or is it what society is telling you to believe in? Um, you know the women who feel like, oh well, I have control over my body, so I'm going to go and sleep with whoever I want, I'm going to do whatever I want, and then not realizing that there are going to be consequences for those actions.

Lindsey Lalka: 37:03

Going out, living it up in her 20s, maybe late 20s, sleeping with whoever she wants, then she finds that she ends up getting pregnant and thinking to herself whether you know, oh well, I can just go and get an abortion, and is that truly having control? Or are you spiraling and you're letting other people have control of the guy who you slept with and you know he has control of whatever he wanted to do for you and now he's nowhere in sight? Or you know any type, any type of situation like that, um, and of course, for like the instance with um, you know rape, incest, that kind of thing. I agree with what you mentioned before murder doesn't solve the crime. That it's already been done, unfortunately, um, but I think that that is definitely the biggest thing I want to get people to ask themselves is if they are really in control. Being a feminist.

Rebecca Twomey: 38:07

And as far as, yeah, that's a totally a great point. We all are programmed in some way about some things and many things, about some things and many things, right, and that is a programming to this generation and the last two.

Rebecca Twomey: 38:29

I would say that's culturally and formed by the world and pushed on us by the world. It obviously is not of God or of the Lord, because he specifically says to love one another and not to murder, and to be fruitful and multiply, and that the bond between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife, is the most beautiful union that you can imagine. And I didn't fully understand this until I was married and had children of my own. That the intimacy that exists between a husband and a wife is just, it's not even explainable. It's the most beautiful thing that you could have as young women. That sleeping around is empowerment and giving our body to any man just for fun, that is the opposite of empowerment. And I can tell you there's so many women who regret those years of their lives that they gave themselves to someone else, created another human being, killed the human being because it didn't fit into that lifestyle. But you know, the thing that's just amazing and beautiful about the Lord is that there is redemption for all of us, that these things they do not define the love that God has for us. So this is in no way a judgment. If you're listening today and you've been down this road of abortion. I'm sure that you know how painful it was for you, and this is not a judgment call to you being influenced by the world. This is a wake-up call for all of us to say who are you following and why? And, like you said, who really holds the power? Is it you who's making these choices, or are you making these choices due to the influences around you? It's like when we're kids and we play with our neighbor friends and there's neighbor kids and some of them are good, and then there's always that bad kid, and the bad kid always influences us to do something that we shouldn't do, whether it's jump off our second story porch or worse. And that's how I think about abortion. Is it's just that bad kid? It's that bad influence that is influencing you to believe something that has the most huge, ginormous significance in life and is not something that you can undo.

Rebecca Twomey: 41:08

So thank you for sharing that perspective. I really think that that's an important point. To share is is it really empowerment? Share is is it really empowerment? Are you empowered or are you fooled by society and being programmed to believe a certain way? And it actually goes back to the word bodily autonomy is used to say like oh well, we make our own decisions. Oh well, we make our own decisions, but to what extent? Because it's not your body as a woman, it's not our bodies that we're making a decision about, it's the baby's body. Whose bodily autonomy are we talking about here? The baby's bodily autonomy, not ours. And anyway, that's just something I wanted to add on to that and, you know, I'd really love to also ask what this experience taught you about God's design for women's bodies and about God, if you have something else to share.

Lindsey Lalka: 42:18

So women are made to have babies. Obviously it's physically and it's in our DNA. You know, we are more caring, we're more empathic and we were are more nurturing than men, and I think that is such a beautiful thing and I really think that that should be celebrated. That is such a beautiful thing and I really think that that should be celebrated. You know we've talked a lot about, like, some evil things you know today, but at the end of the day, I think that that is just a beautiful thing that God created the women being able to reproduce and put out new life into the world.

Lindsey Lalka: 43:02

I don't have children of my own, I've never been pregnant, anything like that, but I can't even. I can't wait to experience that because I know it's going to be. Something that I've never felt before is bringing a life into this world. Um, I'm not sure if you follow ballerina farm oh, yeah, yeah. But how she talked about when she felt most empowered at like. I think it was like the miss world pageant and she said I felt it seven times every time I've brought life into this world and I'm like that is such true empowerment. It is empowerment.

Rebecca Twomey: 43:45

It is, and, yeah, I love that. She's a spokesperson for mothers right now. That is a beautiful, beautiful thing, and if you don't know who that is, definitely check her out on Instagram Ballerina Farms or it might be Singular Farm You'll find her. She won Mrs America and then went to Mrs Universe, and she is a beacon for mothers in support of she's a home birther. She births those babies in her own bedroom, which is I'm a big fan of. That's what I do, too, and I can't wait for you to experience this one day, Lindsay. You're gonna you're just gonna be like. This is the most beautiful, amazing thing ever. I just know it. Is there anything else that you would like to pass along to listeners, or is there anything that we can be praying for?

Lindsey Lalka: 44:37

For passing on to listeners. I want people to I don't want to say question their beliefs, but maybe I'll go with that To see how genuine they are and where they're really coming from. And where they're really coming from, whether, I guess, on either side, whether you're coming from just oh well, I hear this through the grapevine, so I hear those buzzwords and I'm about those buzzwords, so I'm going to believe it too, like with the feminist movement, or on the opposite side of that. Coming from a place of judgment, like you mentioned before, like judging people who maybe have had an abortion or who have slept around or whatever.

Lindsey Lalka: 45:31

Um, not coming from a place of judgment? Um, and challenging. Should we really be judging? Why don't we give them some grace? Yeah, absolutely so. I think you know. Challenging that, challenging those beliefs and seeing where they actually come from and following where they are coming from. I think that's something I want out there. And then just praying for better days. I think we're in a very interesting time, which I would not think I'd be saying after you know 2020 and what happened within that year, but just praying for some better days, whatever that means.

Rebecca Twomey: 46:09

Well, the good news is Jesus is our Lord and our Savior and we know him. So that is a beautiful thing, and if you don't know him and you're listening, you can get to know him at any time. It's all about that personal relationship with him. I am very much. You know it's not about going to church or, you know, following rules, certain specific rules. It's about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and with God, or Yahweh, and he will guide. He will guide your path. So definitely I want to encourage listeners to seek Him in all things and seek His guidance and just pray, ask for discernment, ask Him to guide you and he will most certainly.

Rebecca Twomey: 46:54

Lindsay, thank you so much for being here and for sharing your testimony with us. Thank you so much, rebecca Awesome, and thank you for tuning in and for being on this journey with us. If you would like to follow along outside the podcast, be sure to join the mission on Instagram and Facebook at the Radiant Mission, or you can also watch this in video format on YouTube if you aren't already, or you can also watch this in video format on YouTube if you aren't already. Today we're going to close with Romans 10, verse 13,. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. We're wishing you a radiant week and we'll see you next time. Bye, everyone.