Lila Rose, founder and president of the national pro-life group “Live Action,” delivered the keynote address at the 26th annual Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life at Washington’s Georgetown University Jan. 25.

Rose, whom The Atlantic christened “the face of the millennial anti-abortion movement,” told the collegiate pro-lifers that they should be aware of the “moment” they’re in, a “war” — including in the media — for the “hearts and minds” of Americans on the life issues. Recounting how one powerful Congressman decided a decade ago against pushing harder on pro-life legislation because of likely adverse publicity, Rose insisted the fight was not just with the media but over the message: rehumanizing the “fetus” or “clump of tissue” whose identity had been erased in the way pro-life stories are packaged.

The keynoter also insisted on the need not to lose sight of the “end state” — what we want to achieve — in the midst of the battle of the moment. The end state is to make abortion illegal in law and unthinkable in fact. Pushing back against the state’s rights approach into which some have settled, Rose stressed that denying humanity to any group is not a legitimate democratic option. You can’t take away an innocent person’s rights, even if a majority votes they want to. That is the democracy of the lynch mob.

The ultimate goal of pro-life activity, Rose emphasized, is nothing less than a “revolution” of “love” that recognizes the inalienable value of every human person and the intrinsic significance of sex in relation to children and interpersonal relationships. She encouraged the record number of attendees (mention was made of possibly 700, the largest single Cardinal O’Connor Conference) to redouble their commitments to meeting the moment, keeping the eye on the prize, and realizing that love — the prize — is radically transformative.

Opposite Rose’s keynote, the conference concluded with a roundtable discussion, led by EWTN’s Abigail Galvan, on “Life and Dignity: A Global Commitment.” Panelists Jor-El Godsey (President, Heartbeat International), Brian Clowes (Education & Research Director, Human Life International), Melissa Ohden (Founder and Director, Abortion Survivors Network), and María Paula Andana (Founder, Somos Suyos Ministries) spoke to how to advance life and dignity both comprehensively in America (through pro-life education and both concrete/long-term support) and globally (Andana addressed the situation in Latin America).

Between the two conference bookends, 15 breakout conferences took place over three hours, addressing topics that included fetal development and abortion procedures, humane foster care, human trafficking, care of the dying, pro-life as a response to violence, and the personal testimony of the lifelong grappling of a now 55-year-old woman conceived in rape about the intrinsic dignity of her life. The Sisters of Life, annual attendees and sponsors of the conference, delivered various talks about the pro-life work and witness of their founder, New York’s late archbishop, John Cardinal O’Connor.

The Cardinal O’Connor Conference on Life is the largest student-run pro-life gathering that brings college and university students together with experts in the legal, medical, public policy, philosophical and theological fields to bear witness to life. Organized at Georgetown on the day after the annual March for Life, it assembles college and university students from across America.

The Conference includes bestowing the annual Rev. Thomas King S.J. Award ($1,000) on a student pro-life group. This year’s recipient was “Ravens Respect Life,” the pro-life group at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. The Award, named after the late Jesuit Father Thomas King, student advisor to the Georgetown pro-life group and 40-year professor of theology at that university, was bestowed by Robert Groves, Georgetown’s Interim President. Groves succeeded Dr. John DeGioia, longtime Georgetown President who assumed emeritus status after a stroke last year.