Does passing laws that write abortion rights into the state constitution really help women, or may it in fact harm them? Welcome to the Case for Life podcast. I’m your host, Scott Klusendorf. It’s great to have you with us. We aim to help you equip to defend the pro-life view more persuasively in the public square. And I just want to make a mention of our primary sponsor, Life Training Institute. If you have not visited that website at ProLifeTraining.com, please do to get information about our speakers. And today it is really fun for me to get to introduce the newest member of the LTI speaking team, Brittany Forsling. And Brittany is someone that has been on my radar for a little while here. I met her husband at a pro-life event I spoke at. And after hearing about her and her story, I thought we need to make a connection here. And I’m grateful that we have. Brittany, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for inviting me to speak with you today. Well, listen, just so our listeners get to know you a little bit, can you give us a little bit about your background, a little summary of your story, and we’ll take it from there. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I was born and raised in Amelia Island, Florida. One of 3 kids have an amazing family. I went to the University of Central Florida for college, and that is where I found myself unexpectedly pregnant at 18 years old. I went on to have my son, who is now, he’ll be 14 next week. I am now married to an amazing man and have 2 more beautiful boys with him. We live in Atlanta, Georgia. And, as you said, I am now a speaker with LTI, and being in the pro-life movement is something that’s been on my heart for a very long time, and I’m really excited to be jumping in in this way. One of the things I think you bring that is very powerful, you not only have a story, you’ve done substantial work learning the pro-life apologetics message, and you know how to defend it very ably. When you look back on your own story, what was it like to be 18 in college and pregnant? What pressures did you face and from whom? Gosh, well, I faced pressures all around. I am very lucky that my parents and my boyfriend did not pressure me. But those are the only ones that didn’t. I went to the health clinic at school. I went to professors that I trusted. I had friends who, of course, thought they were doing the right thing by telling me that I should have an abortion. Pretty much everyone said at some point, you should have an abortion, except for my immediate family members. And, you know, as you started in the intro, I firmly believe that that was one of the most detrimental parts of the entire experience for me. Did you lose friendships over people pressuring you to abort and when you didn’t do it, they kind of wrote you off? I wouldn’t say that they immediately wrote me off, but with time, those relationships fizzled. And I know now more than I did then, and it was very much because of what I chose. They just couldn’t handle a friendship with someone who had a baby. I didn’t have the same abilities to go out to the bar with them and serve them in the way that they thought that friendship was supposed to be. So I definitely got cut out of their lives due to me having a child. Was there a worldview element to that as well? They were upset that you weren’t embracing their way of looking at the world when it came to facing an unplanned pregnancy? Well, so University of Central Florida, not very many Christians there. I had a lot of Jewish friends. I had some friends who were Catholic, but mainly a secular school. And so when And I will say, I didn’t make my decision based on my faith because I did not know Jesus personally at that time. But when I came to know him and when I started talking about the sanctity of life, because it is divinely created, that is when I started getting pushback from all of those people because of their worldviews, definitely. What were some of the things they said to you on the worldview level? What did they take offense at that you were saying? I’ve heard, keep your religion out of my healthcare. They’ve told me that just because I think that human beings are divinely created doesn’t mean that they have to think that and that that is reality in any way. It’s more the people who are speaking out about that are the hate fulfilled ones. And so, you know, it’s kind of name calling. And I believe in a fairy tale. And that doesn’t have anything to do with their, you know, their bodies and that type of thing. It’s interesting. They didn’t try to refute your argument. They tried to just label it and dismiss it. Which is something we see a lot in the culture. Absolutely. Who besides your family, what who were those who helped you and what was it they said to you that gave you the most encouragement to do the right thing? There was a nurse when I went to the doctor to have a blood test because I didn’t believe my at-home pregnancy tests. I was in denial. And there was a nurse there who told me, she said, I know this isn’t what you want to hear. But I had a baby when I was eighteen and she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And that stuck with me for a long time. And then my doctor, who I ended up going to because the first doctor I went to told me that she could help me by referring me to an abortion clinic. Um, so I asked to switch doctors and that doctor is, I mean, I ended up looking at him as a father figure. He was so loving and so kind, um, and, and just walked me through every step of the way. Um, and to the point that when I was in labor, I went, I was, I went in when he was scheduled to be, um, delivering and he ended up staying through the night until 4 AM and sleeping there so that he could be the one to deliver my baby. He really stuck with me and I’m forever grateful to him. Again, my family, my boyfriend, were just very supportive. I remember my parents, my dad coming in and sitting with me and just saying, I’m here for you no matter what. I knew my mom would be supportive. That was my next question. Walk us through how your parents responded, hearing the news and then dealing with what you were going to have to face while in school. How did they respond to you? Yeah. Not a lot of people ask me that. And I’m glad you did, because even my mom says if we could just change the culture around the way parents respond to their children, we would save so many babies. Because, of course, they were scared and nervous. And I mean, I’ll say I came from a family. My dad was well known in the community. Um, and so there was a, there is a level of embarrassment and shame there. Um, but then my mom, first of all, she was very helpful. She knew that I was pregnant because I had taken like 3 pregnancy tests, but she still took me to the doctor, um, just to help me mentally. And I told her not to tell my dad. I was so scared to tell my dad. Um, I didn’t want to bring any shame. And then of course she did, um, because they’re A married couple. And now that I’m married, I totally understand. Um, and he just, like I said, he came into my room and he sat with me and held me and said, I will be here for you no matter what. My brother did the same thing. Um, and it’s just, they supported me through the entire thing. And what my mom has said is that she realized I made the harder choice. Um, and yeah, that she was there to support me no matter what, and that she never wanted my son to feel the embarrassment or shame that I felt. And so she wanted to make sure that they loved him just as much as they would if he were a planned baby. Yeah. Boy, that is the message that I think a lot of Christian families need to convey to their children who may be facing unplanned pregnancies. We love you. You’re our child. That is unconditional. None of that changes. And we’re here for you. Because what I’ve heard from women who have had abortions is the thing that drove them to the abortionist the strongest was feeling abandoned. You had support structures around you. And that leads me to something I want to just get your thoughts on. There are several states facing ballot initiatives that will write abortion into the state constitution as a right, one of them being Florida, where you originate from. How do you see writing abortion rights into a state constitution impacting women facing situations like what you did? I think it is a step away from what people who support abortion think they’re doing. As I said, having abortion be an option kind of shifted the foundation of the conversation around me. And so no one considered that I might make the choice to keep my son. And so they told me all the things that were wrong with me and all the things that I couldn’t do as a mother and what my life would look like if I had my son. And so when I did make the choice to keep him, I went into motherhood with all of those thoughts going through my head. And again, that was the most detrimental part. I suffered severely from that. And I mean, I’ll say that having a baby is hard, but it’s one of those things that every, the financial hardship, the career hardship, all of those things, those are things you learn from and you can get over. You can’t really get over without a lot of therapy, hearing people tell you over and over that you’re not strong enough to have a baby. I mean, even the people who go into having an abortion, if they if they choose that, the culture right now with abortion being legal is to have that conversation and tell people why they should. So even if they’re going into an abortion, it’s because they don’t think they’re good enough. It’s because they don’t think they have enough money. It’s because they think that they’re never going to get married if they are a single mom. And I just it’s. It’s so far away from what we say that we want for women to be compassionate for them and to empower them. And I just I don’t really understand how we’ve gotten to that and how we can’t see that that’s what we’re doing. Well, I think what you’re articulating there very well, I might add, is that the law is not neutral. It functions as a moral tutor. And that’s something that Aristotle taught. It goes all the way back to the classical thinkers. The law informs how we view morality. And I guess what I’m hearing you say is you were surrounded by friends that because we’re part of a nation where the culture has been to accept abortion, both legally and And and culturally, you were pressured in ways you might not have been if the law had been different. So writing abortion rights, so-called abortion rights into a state constitution is not necessarily going to help empower women. I think what you’re telling me is it may subject them to more undue pressure. Absolutely. Without a doubt. There will always be pressure to have an abortion if abortion is legal in your state. Always. And if it were not legal, the immediate reaction, I would think, over time, would be to come alongside women and support them and point them to the thousands of resources available to them and their child. But right now, we don’t even bring that up. We want to hide that because the idea here is that abortion is good and legal. We think legal means good. That’s kind of what you were just saying. It lays the moral background. We think legal means good. So if we are putting it in the Constitution, women are going to continue to seek abortion because they think it’s good. Both legally and morally, yeah, and that is problematic. If you could give advice to pastors at a church on caring for women and coming alongside women that face similar things to what you did, what would you say to church leaders? It’s a great question. I came from a small town, so my church wasn’t incredibly supportive during my pregnancy. So I would first of all, I would say you need to be speaking about abortion because I never heard a single message about abortion in my church that I can recall. Meaning if I did, it wasn’t an impactful abortion only sermon. It might have been talked about briefly. But speaking about it so that women know that they can come to their church community for help and support, because not everybody has loving parents and a boyfriend or whomever who they’ve conceived a baby with. And so the church community should be one of the first places that they go. And I think that by not speaking about it, we’re showing them that they can’t come to you. You mentioned that you weren’t a Christian when you were a college student. When did you become a believer? And share a little bit about that story. Yeah, so I was a believer. I knew about Jesus. I had asked to be saved when I was 13, but I think it was a response to my grandmother died of an aggressive brain tumor and my brother went to war following 9 11. And so I think I I thought that I knew Jesus, but I didn’t repent. I didn’t turn from my sins, obviously. And then after I got pregnant, I needed help. And I sought help. the word to help me. A friend who had been, she was pregnant in high school. She invited me to a Bible study called when life is hard, Max Lucado. I don’t know if I’m saying his name correctly. And I didn’t stay through those study because again, it was a room full of women who were not supportive of me. or her, but it did turn me on to the Word. And so I started listening to sermons online, just diving into the Bible and treating it as my refuge. And He saved me. He saved me from myself. I thought terrible things about myself because I believed what everybody told me. And He told me that none of that is true. Yeah. Yeah. If you could speak to that Christian young woman that is facing an unplanned pregnancy right now and she’s worried that her church is going to disown her, she’s going to bring shame on her family and worried that, you know, her reputation is going to suffer. What would you say to her right now if you had 5 minutes with her? I would say that that is very likely not true. That’s fear that’s coming from the enemy telling you that that is the case. And more likely than not, your parents are going to love you unconditionally. More likely than not, you are going to be able to find someone with a Christian background who is going to support you unconditionally. And even if you don’t, even if that’s not the case, there are other Christian resources available. You can call me anytime. I just know that no matter what, obeying God’s commands and having the baby that he has blessed you with is going to be more fruitful than anything. Anything else ever will. And you will grow in your faith. You will grow in so many ways by being obedient to the Lord and having your baby. Yeah, great stuff. I think the Word of God has to be foundational for people, and when you can point them to that as their objective source of truth and hope, you’re grounding them in the only thing that is going to help get them through and keep them, you know, anchored to truth in a way that has long-term effects for good. As you think about looking forward to speaking with LTI, and I hope, by the way, that churches, youth groups in particular, will take advantage of your availability. I think your combination of a story where you went through hardship, you obeyed the Lord, you came to faith in Him. You did the right thing combined with your ability to communicate the truth of the pro-life message. I hope that’s something they take advantage of. But just from your perspective, what are you excited about doing in the future in terms of your ministry platform? I am excited to speak to young people, old people, whomever, to give them a different perspective of what they’re hearing over and over in the world today. And like I said before, I knew I wanted to be in this space for a long time. I thought that that was just on the pregnancy resource center side. And then a little bit more about my story, I ended up having issues conceiving my second 2 sons. And so that’s when I really did a deep dive into the reproductive system to figure out what was going on. And that’s when I really realized the sanctity of life and how uniquely human a baby is at the moment of conception. I got really cool peeks at my babies at 5 weeks and saw a heartbeat. And so I then realized through that that I needed to be spreading a message that that not just helps the women who have chosen life, but also informs women and men before they’ve made the choice so that they will make a different one. And so I’m excited to speak. Ultimately, I’d love to get onto, like you said, youth groups, college campuses, So anywhere that I can use my story as encouragement and just say, like, yes, it’s hard, but it is absolutely worth it. And once you really understand what it is that we’re talking about, it’s hard. I think it’s really hard to say that abortion is the answer. And so I’m just I’m encouraged by this opportunity. And I hope that I get the chance to reach people and change their hearts around this topic. Well, we are very happy to have you on board as our newest team member, and I hope those watching will consider you for events. I think, again, you bring that unique combination of a sound thinking mind on the issue. You know the arguments, you can convey the apologetics tools, but you’ve also got it combined with a very powerful story. And I think when we combine storytelling with truthful proclamation of good argumentation, we are doing the very best persuasion possible. And I’m hoping there’s pregnancy centers that will consider you as a banquet speaker. And as you said, youth groups and churches that will as Well, and I think that your future is bright in the movement. We’re really glad to have you. You’ve already made a difference helping in the state of Florida, producing a video against Amendment 4, which would write abortion into that state’s constitution. And I’ve seen the clip you did there. It’s very powerful. And I think that’s just a foretaste of what’s coming your way as the Lord releases you into this more and more. We’re glad to have you on the team, Brittany, and thanks for joining us today. Thank you so much, Scott. Well, folks, that’s it for today. I wanted you to meet our newest team member. I think you would agree with me. She’s going to be a special addition to our team. And I’m grateful that we have her in the game. And I pray the Lord raises up more people like you, Brittany, because we need them. For the rest of you, look forward to seeing you next time. Again, if you haven’t already done so, please go to scottklusendorf.com and get a copy of my new book, The Case for Life, the second edition. You can also sign up there for the course that we’re offering, the Case for Life course that will equip you to make a case for the pro-life position in the public square so that you can become someone like Brittany who understands the issue and knows how to convey it effectively. Thanks for joining us, folks. I look forward to seeing you next issue.