Editor’s note: The following commentary is an excerpt from remarks presented before the Presidential Religious Liberty Commission on Sept. 8, 2025, with minor edits made only for readability.
Proverbs says that “the tongue has the power of life and death.” But that’s not just a verse from the Bible — it’s my story. Words saved my life.
When I was 16, I learned just how close I came to never being born. My mother was 17 when she found out she was pregnant with me. Already raising my brother alone, she was scared and overwhelmed. She felt she had no choice but to end my life through abortion.
But God intervened through the voice of my grandmother. She empowered my mother to know she wasn’t alone. Because of my grandmother’s faith and my mother’s “yes” to my life, I am alive.
My family’s story ignited a passion in me to empower other young women and instilled in me a desire to use my story to share God’s truth: that every person is created in the image of God and has intrinsic dignity from the moment of conception.
God opened the door for me to share this truth during my studies at Queens College in New York by inspiring me to start our very own Students for Life group. I knew God was calling me to be that voice — to walk alongside young women facing what my mother faced so they would know: You are not alone. There is hope. You can choose motherhood and live a flourishing life!
My college campus became my mission field.
With the help of Students for Life of America, several classmates and I began the process of forming an official club to support pregnant women and parenting students on campus by providing resources, baby showers, scholarships, and community.
To my dismay, we faced opposition at every turn. The Student Development Office discouraged us from even applying.
But we persevered, carefully crafted a constitution, and submitted our application.
When we met with the Campus Affairs Committee, we shared that we wanted our club to offer support to pregnant women and parenting students, promote women’s health, and cultivate a community that celebrates the dignity of every life.
After cutting our presentation short, the committee said we’d hear back by the end of the day.
We didn’t.
A week passed. Other student groups were approved. We heard nothing. Finally, I reached out to the head of the Student Development office. Without explanation, she told me that the college was denying us official status as a student group.
I was stunned. This meant no meeting spaces, no access to campus resources, no student activity funds — which our tuition helped pay for — to host diaper drives or to start a scholarship fund, and no ability to host speakers and freely dialogue on campus.
Public universities are supposed to be marketplaces of ideas, where all students are free to share their beliefs, opinions, and worldviews. Queens College approved a wide diversity of student groups every year, including pro-abortion groups.
It was hard experiencing such blatant discrimination against my faith and against my core moral values. Queens College wasn’t just silencing our student group. They were silencing help and hope for pregnant women. They were silencing our voice.
As I considered what to do, I remembered the circumstances that surrounded the dawn of my life. I recalled the difference my grandmother’s encouraging voice made for my scared mother, and I knew I had no choice but to speak up for women and their unborn children.
So, with the help of Alliance Defending Freedom, I filed a lawsuit against Queens College — not out of anger but out of conviction that every student deserves the right to speak, to serve, and to stand for what they believe.
It wasn’t easy being a college student taking on my alma mater. But the incredible gift of life is worth standing for.
Eventually, Queens College changed its policy and officially recognized our club. When I graduated, our group was changing lives, and we had even launched a scholarship fund for pregnant women and new parents. This scholarship fund has now become its own foundation, The Kathleen Mullally Foundation, run by the young woman who succeeded me as president.
This scholarship fund is still active today and helps pregnant women and parenting students all over New York State. Many women have been awarded funds to help care for themselves and their families while maintaining their studies. It stands as a beacon of hope that every life has inherent dignity, and that women deserve better than abortion — providing them with the resources to finish school and embrace parenthood.
I pray that my story will inspire college students to courageously live out their faith. Every student should be free to speak without fear of discrimination. I hope that President Donald Trump and his administration will continue their bold efforts to protect free speech and religious freedom at colleges across our country.
We know that words have the power to end a life. But they also have the power to save one. And it is up to us to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Norvilia Etienne Cain is a former president of the Students for Life chapter at Queens College, City University of New York.
