Second Place: 2025 Annual Helen M. Donovan Memorial Award Essay Contest
The results of the 2025 Helen Donovan Memorial Essay Contest are complete. Once again the young pro-life voices in the state are showing how thoughtful they are on pro-life issues. We are grateful for the participation of all those who submitted an essay this year.
This essay titled Promoting the Culture of Life won second place and is by Michael Townley
Promoting the Culture of Life
Over time, social media has become extremely popular in our generation. Nowadays, everyone has social media, allowing them to share and create ideas to portray for the general public. Social media has an immense impact on the views that individuals have on specific topics, such as issues that threaten human life, for example, abortion. Individuals use social media to portray both the negative and positive effects of abortion with the goal of convincing the general public to agree with their claim. I would use social media and other means to promote a culture that values human life and dignity by sharing personal experiences of others, posting comments that portray the negatives of abortion, and educating individuals on the stages of human life.
When an individual posts on social media, they’re not only reaching a small community, they are reaching the entire world. Through social media, I would share personal experiences Of others regarding abortion, emphasizing the negatives of abortion and emphasizing that the killing of a living person is murder. The right to life of the individual and the sacredness of life of the individual needs to be taken into account. I would share why it’s important to value the life and human dignity of every individual. God created each one of us in his own image and likeness, so individuals need to respect God’s creation.
On most social media platforms, individuals can type comments to communicate with others. Allowing others to see another individual’s perspective or view on a topic, specifically abortion can sway their view immensely. Comments can sway one’s opinion on abortion by seeing a side that they hadn’t thought of before that someone else had. Doctors, Catholics, pro-life activists and scientists have the ability to comment on others posts, with the purpose of persuading others on the negatives of abortions. I would comment on others posts or repost comments sharing the downside of abortion and why it is wrong.
The final way I would use social media would be by posting images and videos, educating individuals on the stages of human life, explaining why abortion is killing a living human, not just a “clump of cells.” These videos and images would be of the stages of human life, scientific analysis and medical analysis, in order to express my view that abortion is wrong and that it does not value human life or preserve human dignity.
In conclusion, social media is a very effective tool in order to portray your view on a specific topic, especially abortion. I would use social media to promote human life and dignity by sharing personal experiences of others, posting comments that portray the negatives of abortion, and educating individuals on the stages of human life.
