Although the 23-year-old says she “yearned to give my life to something greater,” Peters recalled spending “several years switching from one plan to another as I attempted to discern my vocation.”
At 21, Peters became engaged to the man of her “dreams.”
“Not wanting to let him slip away, I became determined to suppress the nagging voice in the back of my mind that kept telling me there was 'something else I was supposed to do first' before assuming the responsibilities of marriage and parenthood,” Peters recounted. “I even stopped praying for guidance out of fear that the answer was one I didn’t want to hear.”
Peters said she felt a distinct call become involved with the pro-life movement when she attended a Students for Life of America conference in January 2009. Following her time at the conference, it “gradually became apparent over the next six weeks that none of my future plans were going to be compatible with following my conscience.”
“Despite my best efforts to avoid having to make any sacrifices, in the end it all came down to a fork in the road, two very distinct paths, and a choice that was nothing short of excruciating,” Peters added.
“Considering that I had absolutely no game plan whatsoever at that point, it was beyond question the most terrifying leap of faith I’ve ever made. As it turned out in the end, however, my journey over the past year has strengthened my faith tremendously – God has showered me with blessings beyond my wildest expectations.”
Peters serves as president of the statewide pro-life organization Alabama Students for Life. In April 2009, she coordinated the first Alabama Students for Life Statewide Conference, which drew student participants from across the state and included several different pro-life organizations.
“I just accepted a job offer from Priests for Life in NYC, where I will be working with their lay outreach ministry known as The Missionaries of the Gospel of Life,” Peters said. “My dream is to specialize in inter-organizational cooperation and promote an increased level of collaboration within the movement.”
Speaking on the negative effects of abortion, Sanders and Peters shared their perspectives with CNA.
“It is a woman’s natural urge to be protective of her children,” Sanders asserted. “If a woman is pregnant and the child is wanted, then it is a baby in her womb. If a woman is pregnant and the baby is unwanted, then it’s just a blob of tissue. I think most women instinctively know how wrong this flawed line of thought is. I think most women know that abortion ends the life of their child.”
In addition to many physical problems that abortion can cause, it can also “result in severe emotional consequences,” Sanders said.
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“Post abortive women have an increase in drug and alcohol use and an increase in suicidal thoughts,” Sanders noted. “But Planned Parenthood says 'this is not true.' Who are we to believe? These women who are sharing their personal experiences? Or an organization that is making many-millions of dollars every year from scared pregnant women?”
Peters echoed Sanders, saying that “I would urge young women not to be deceived by the rhetoric used by Planned Parenthood, but instead to seek the truth for themselves. They should remember that empty promises, lies & half-truths are the Enemy's favorite tools of deception.”
“Abortion is oftentimes such a hidden evil in society that my goal is simply to do anything I can to spread the truth.”