2003 National Right To Life Oratory Contest: Press Release

ARKANSAN WINS FIRST PLACE AT NATIONAL COMPETITION

On Saturday, July 5, 2003, Miss Katie Beebe won First Place in the Jane B. Thompson National Oratory Contest that was held at the National Right to Life Convention at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at Union Station in St. Louis, Missouri.

Miss Beebe, 16, is a junior at Cabot High School and the daughter of Rick and Joan Beebe of Lonoke, Arkansas. She received the trip to the national competition after winning first place in the Arkansas Right to Life Oratory Contest in March.

Miss Beebe was among 22 national contestants competing for cash prizes by researching, writing and performing a 5-7 minute original speech on the issue of abortion, infanticide or euthanasia. The issue of when life begins was the topic of Ms. Beebe's speech, as well as the fertility mix up case in Oregon that resulted in a white mother giving birth to two sons, one white and one black. She presented compelling evidence that life begins at conception.

"I am a healthy 16 year old girl. My heart beats, just as it did in the third week of my mother's pregnancy. I have the hair of my father, the nose of my mother, the hands of my grandmother, the ears of my grandfather, and all this was set in stone the second my life began, when that single egg was fertilized by that single sperm. I was a one cell forty-six-chromosome human being possessing everything I needed to grow into an adult human except time. I'm not a 'blueprint' or part of a human being, and neither are the millions of innocent babies killed because our nation refuses to recognize them as they truly are, alive," said Miss Beebe.

Miss Beebe received a $1,000 cash prize and presented her winning speech at the convention's closing banquet on Saturday evening. She received a standing ovation and accolades from keynote speaker Ben Stein. Second place winner Kelly League of Tennessee received $750, Luke Messac of New York won $500 in third place and in fourth place, Maggie Kercher of Oregon won $250.

"Katie is an excellent example of the quality of our pro-life youth in Arkansas. She did a fantastic job on her speech and represented Arkansas successfully at the national convention and contest," stated Rose Mimms, executive director of Arkansas Right to Life. "We are thrilled for Arkansas to take first place in our first attempt to participate in the contest in many years."

Arkansas Right to Life is the oldest and largest pro-life organization in Arkansas and is an affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee.

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