R.I. teen fighting to save lives of the unborn at local, national levels

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PROVIDENCE — In 1 Timothy 4:12, St. Paul exhorts young people to be an example to believers in “speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.”
One such local young person, 19-year-old Melissa Cifuentes of Providence, is doing just that.
Just completing her sophomore year at Rhode Island College, Melissa is majoring in political science. Earlier in the semester, on March 5, she addressed the R.I. General Assembly by opposing the R.I. Reproductive Health Care Act (H-1527), a pro-abortion bill that is very similar to the recent “extreme abortion” bill that New York state passed. Since then, God has opened doors for Melissa to speak out against this extreme bill and to raise awareness of the sacredness of life from conception to natural death.
A year ago, Melissa was a typical college student who didn’t have a strong opinion either way about abortion because, as she explained, abortion “has been a social norm in society.” Her opinion changed when the pastors at her church, the Awakening Church in Smithfield, explained to their congregation what the Reproductive Health Care Act was all about.
“I felt an awakening to speak up that couldn’t be silenced because this bill wasn’t even something that should be debatable because it is an issue about human lives!” Cifuentes exclaimed.
After considering the comments of her pastors and family, Cifuentes realized that abortion “is not just a political issue, or a religious issue, but it is a human, moral issue.” When she heard that H-1527 might pass in Rhode Island, and that many were speaking against it, she was motivated to take action to protect the unborn. When her church organized a group to go to the Statehouse to testify, she didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“I knew I had to be a part of it,” she said.
After waiting 13 hours, it was finally Melissa’s turn to speak.
“I felt an anger come over me when I was speaking — that this shouldn’t even be up for discussion,” she recounted. “If someone really is pro-life, you’d stand up for it no matter what. I wanted to be a voice for the voiceless.”
Ignoring some of her notes, Melissa spoke from her heart and in doing so, her passionate words moved the hearts of those who were listening.
Her church posted video of her testimony on social media. The Family Research Council saw the video and reached out to Melissa. They asked her to come to Washington, D.C., to speak at a press conference and help bring into the light, on a national level, Rhode Island’s push for this extreme, immoral abortion bill.
After the D.C. press conference, Jason Calvi of EWTN News Nightly interviewed Melissa for their program and aired it that evening, and a video clip of her comments was aired on CBN News.
Dubbed a pro-life activist in a CBN news article written by Paul Strand, Melissa is quoted as saying, “We are called to use our voice to speak the truth on behalf of innocent lives that are sacred and that are worthy of our protection. And I can’t help but ask and wonder if future generations will ask how did 21st century Americans not see the harm in what they were doing?”
At only 19, Melissa smiles and says she has asked herself “Am I qualified for this?”
But as many know, God doesn’t always choose the qualified, but qualifies the chosen, making Cifuentes an inspiration and role model to many.
A bright young woman of faith who has a bright future ahead, Cifuentes plans, after graduating with a major in political science, to possibly pursue a career in law. Currently, she is working in a managerial role at her brother’s upholstery business and is active as the social media coordinator for two non-profit organizations, one of which is called www.weheartlives.com which has a goal to “awaken people to action for the voiceless and vulnerable — our fellow humans in the womb.”
Click to watch EWTN’s video coverage.