Josalin Morris, left to right, Christian Academy junior; Alexandria Gaerke, Russia High School junior; Hezekiah Bezy, second place tie, Lehman Catholic senior; Dani Paulus, first place, Fort Loramie High School senior; Magdalene Schmiesing, second place tie, home-educated junior, competed in the 2023 Shelby County Right to Life regional Pro-Life Oratory Contest. Not pictured is Olivia Mescher, Fort Loramie High School senior, who participated remotely because of a conflict with a basketball playoff game.
Courtesy photo
SIDNEY — Fort Loramie High School senior Danielle Paulus is the 2023 winner of the Shelby County Right to Life regional Pro-Life Oratory Contest.
According to contest organizer, Anne Schmiesing, Paulus won with “a speech about the unethical use of human tissue, from aborted children, in various medical research applications.” Paulus told the contest audience, “Throughout my preparation and research for this speech, I found the use of embryonic stem cells for vaccines, treatments, and research to be absolutely devastating, inhumane, and utterly wrong.”
The event was held Monday, Feb. 20, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sidney. Paulus won $400, as well as the honor of moving on to the state level of this national contest. Other award winners were Magdalene Schmiesing, home-educated junior, and Hezekiah Bezy, Lehman Catholic High School senior, who tied for second place. Other schools represented, among the six contestants, were Russia High School and Christian Academy. The five to seven-minute speeches included the topics of abortion and stem cell research. Other topics allowed in the contest were doctor-prescribed suicide and infanticide.
Schmiesing, director of Shelby County Right to Life, commended the contestants, “It’s clear that all the contest participants are top students. It takes a lot of courage and confidence to enter the contest, as well as academic commitment to do the necessary research. These students really dig into the facts relevant to protecting human life from the moment of conception onward.”
The contest judges were Shelby County Right to Life members Tara Adams, Don Rosenbeck and Adam Vanderhorst. More information about this annual contest for juniors and seniors attending high school in Shelby County can be found at the website of Right to Life of Shelby County.
