People change their minds all the time

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]What is the point of debating abortion?

[00:00:02]Everyone gets upset. Nobody changes their mind. People change their minds.

[00:00:06]How do you know? I mean, they've they've told us. Who has said they've changed their mind? Oh, a lot of people.

[00:00:12]We actually just published a collection of hundreds of people talking about how they used to be pro-choice and now they're pro-life. That surprises me.

[00:00:20]I feel like I just say the same things over and over and the conversation never changes. Well, yeah, I don't think a lot of people change their mind in one single conversation. In fact, for some people, the switch is like a year's-long process. Really? Yeah, it's not necessarily a moment. A lot of times, it's a collection of experiences and then eventually the person realizes they don't feel how they felt before.

[00:00:39]Experiences like what? of people talk about how they were pro-choice until they got pregnant or had kids.

[00:00:45]Until they saw the ultrasound, until they heard the heartbeat. But I thought statistics showed that like half of women who get abortions already have kids. Yeah, that is true. I'm not saying that everyone who has kids will be pro-life, but stats also show that over 90% of women who have kids never have abortions. Hm, interesting. Yeah, and it's not just pregnancy or childbirth that change people's minds. For some people, it's pregnancy loss, experiencing miscarriage or stillbirth.

[00:01:08]Well, that's very sad. It is very sad.

[00:01:11]But they witness their children's humanity and their profound feelings of love and of grief change their whole perspective on the abortion debate. So, some people change because of big, life-altering experiences, but what does that have to do with me debating the same thing over and over?

[00:01:25]Well, people also change because of increased information. Quite a few people have said they changed their views after they took a biology or anatomy or embryology class. That's really cool, but I'm not teaching a biology class. True.

[00:01:38]But people also say they change their minds based on what they see of the debate itself. What do you mean? Well, if they see people being condescending or aggressive or willfully ignorant, it pushes them away from considering those views. They've said that specifically?

[00:01:50]Some have, yeah.

[00:01:52]They said when pro-choicers were more yelling and vitriolic and pro-lifers were more calm and respectful, it affected how willing they were to listen. It makes sense that demeanor matters.

[00:02:01]>> Yes, but it's not just demeanor. They also talk about the content of conversations, having their views, again, respectfully challenged.

[00:02:09]It's not necessarily the case that a lot of people will change their minds right in that one conversation, but a lot of times it's the beginning of change.

[00:02:15]That's good to know. Yeah.

[00:02:17]Talking about abortion is important, both what you say and how you say it.

[00:02:21]You may not see the results in a given moment, but people do change their minds and lives are being saved because of it.