One of the joys of being LLDF’s Executive Director is working with pro-life law students who want to use their law degrees to end abortion. I want to introduce you to one law student who intends to do just that; in fact I would say after you read his interview you will agree he is well on his way. His efforts at promoting life demonstrate that one person can make a difference.
Royce Hood is a graduate of Ave Maria School of Law in Naples, Florida, having just taken the bar in July 2012. I first met Royce over the telephone during an interview for his online news service, Maria News. It was after that interview that he asked me to represent LLDF at the Law of Life Summit in Washington D.C., hosted by Ave Maria at the National Press Club in January 2012.
The Summit is one of the many events held during the week of the March for Life. Its purpose is to hear pro-life leaders from around the country discuss strategies and goals related to overturning Roe v. Wade. Royce managed to unify pro-life leadership from around the country to that end, many leaders coming out of the conference who at the beginning were content to be part of the audience. At the 2012 Summit, it was energizing to witness dozens of law students from Ave Maria participate, knowing that they were interested in using their legal training for the same purpose.
The next day these students were part of the March. At the media tent on March grounds, Royce interviewed many recognized pro-life leaders from around the country for Maria News. (Apart from the March, Ave Maria gave LLDF the opportunity to share “Defending the Free Speech Rights of Pro-Life Advocates” with law students on Ave Maria’s campus August 23, 2012. Dana Cody was invited to present the materials to law students who were asking for training in this specific area of the law).
Consider what Royce has already accomplished just out of law school: an online news service, creating and executing the Law of Life Summit while unifying national leaders and energizing dozens of students who attended. Recently he was asked to join the board of the March for Life Foundation, (which is no surprise since the March for Life co-founder, Nellie Gray, was one of the participants at the January 2012 Law of Life Summit.) Royce makes a great impression!
In 2013, on the 40th anniversary of Roe, another Law of Life Summit will convene at the National Press Club. Once again Royce will organize the summit for Ave Maria School of Law and LLDF will participate as a co-sponsor. Hear from Royce how he came to be involved with the pro-life movement and how he intends to use his legal training to end abortion. You will see that one person makes a difference.
You have made a difference by supporting LLDF. If not for your support, we may have never met Royce. Watch for him in the future. He has accomplished great things for life and I’m confident will accomplish much, much more. And as we like to say at LLDF, it all translates into lives saved.
[Attorneys reading this article may be interested in a new CLE offering from LLDF, “Defending The Free Speech Rights Of Pro-Life Advocates.” The course is offered from http://www.lldf.org/certifications/ —Ed.]
[This article was printed in Lifeline Vol. XXI, No. 2 (Summer 2012) Read in PDF.]