The March for Life, an annual pro-life event that both cheers the movement’s progress and calls for further action to protect human dignity, took place this week in Washington, D.C. As a young woman who attended this joyous gathering for the first time, and as someone who was formerly quite vocal about my pro-choice beliefs, hear me out: As I navigated my way through the abortion lobby’s litany of lies, pro-life activists’ kindness made all the difference.

I was pro-choice for many years because I bought the abortion industry’s nonsense. I was convinced that letting women treat their unborn babies as inconveniences to be disposed of rather than incredible blessings to nurture was compassionate — if not for the child, then at least for the mother. I listened as abortion advocates shrugged off questions about the unborn child with half-baked arguments hinging on bodily autonomy.