By Hillary C. Wright, student news writer
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. — Lori Lynne Vance of Rogersville, Tenn., founder of Joy Ministries, will be the speaker at Campbellsville University’s chapel series Wednesday, Oct. 8 at Ransdell Chapel. She will be presenting “Fighting for the Right to Live—Partial-Birth Abortion” at 10 a.m. The public is invited to attend.
Vance is a 1983 graduate of Sparrows Point High School. She is also a 2002 graduate of the Vocational Nursing Program at Wilson College.
Vance is a member of the Hawkins County Right to Life and the Hawkins County Republican Women’s Organization. She is also a member of East Rogersville Missionary Baptist Church and a former member of the Franklin County Christian Coalition.
Vance founded Joy Ministries at the age of 31. The ministry is an effort to educate the public on the joy and blessings of raising a special needs child by speaking in churches and other venues, and by also counseling parents facing a crisis pregnancy.
“We make an effort,” said Vance, “when geographically possible, to pray in person with the family, bring a meal, maybe visit them in the hospital and teach them how to survive a long hospital stay — just whatever we can do to support the family going through what we faced.”
Vance was seven months pregnant when doctors advised her to abort her unborn child. No fewer than five major brain defects were being detected. Vance was given a choice – complete the pregnancy or follow the doctors’ advice and agree to a procedure called “partial birth abortion.”
“I chose not to go through with the late-term abortion because Donna Joy’s life doesn’t really belong to me, it belongs to God, so it’s only His for the taking,” Vance said. “I wasn’t going to be a part of killing my own child. I knew that she could have awful handicaps, but it didn’t matter to me because I still loved her. She was still my child.”
Donna Joy, the girl who lived, became a poster child for the partial-birth abortion ban cause.
Vance is a survivor of domestic violence and is active in local efforts to help survivors and counsel perpetrators and victims.
She testified in Maryland in 2005 to educate lawmakers on the need for pre-natal care for all Maryland inmates to ensure the safety of their pre-born children, also successfully lobbied lawmakers for home-bound sentences for non-violent, non-drug related pregnant offenders in Maryland or those with nursing infants to ensure the health and safety of the newborn infants.
Vance was active in the national fight to ban partial birth abortions, is still active in pro-life politics and was invited in 2003 by President George W. Bush to the White House to see him sign the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act into law.
She has appeared on such programs as “Focus on the Family” with Dr. James Dobson, “The Phil Donahue Show,” “Good Morning America” and “NBC Nightly News” with Tom Brokaw, and “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” while also being featured in numerous newspapers.
Vance and her husband, Mark, have four children, Chrissy, Tabytha, Donna Joy and Shayla.
Chapel is designed to provide opportunities for corporate worship and exposure through of a variety of informative speakers and presentations.
All chapel programs are free and open to the public.
For information, call the Office of Campus Ministries at (270) 789-5227.
Campbellsville University is a private, comprehensive institution located in South Central Kentucky. Founded in 1906, Campbellsville University is affiliated with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and has an enrollment of 2,601 students who represent 93 Kentucky counties, 27 states and 31 foreign nations. Listed in U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 “America’s Best Colleges,” CU is ranked 22nd in “Best Baccalaureate Colleges” in the South for the second consecutive year. CU has been ranked 16 consecutive years with U.S. News & World Report. The university has also been named to America’s Best Christian Colleges®. Campbellsville University is located 82 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky., and 80 miles southeast of Louisville, Ky. Dr. Michael V. Carter is in his tenth year as president.