WAPAKONETA — The Petersburg Parish Respect for Life Committee will present a talk by Giana Jessen in St. Joseph Church, 101 W. Pearl St., Wapakoneta, at 6:30 p.m., Jan. 29.

Donations will be collected to help cover expenses.

Jessen is an abortion survivor. In the womb, she was bathed in a burning saline solution, but she overcame it to enter the world. Two months premature and weighing just 2 pounds, she spent her first few months in a hospital. From there, she entered the foster care system.

The failed abortion had also provided the “gift” of cerebral palsy, as she calls it: “It allows me to really depend on Jesus for everything.” It also labeled her a hopeless case, an infant who was a ward of the state and for whom the expectations of achievement were extremely low. Doctors predicted she would never even lift her head. She showed them: she began walking as an infant and has grown into a woman who has run marathons.

She has spoken at several locations in Italy and been profiled in the Italian edition of Vanity Fair and a newspaper at the Vatican. She appeared at Yale University and testified before the Australian parliament and the British House of Commons, as well as the U.S. Congress, twice. Another Australia speech was filed on YouTube.

She was in attendance when President George W. Bush signed the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which provided safeguards for those born during failed abortions.

A 2012 movie, “October Baby,” is loosely based on her life.

Mother Teresa said of Jessen, “God is using Gianna to remind the world that each human being is precious to Him. It is beautiful to see the strength of the love of Jesus, which he has poured into her heart. My prayer for Gianna, and for all who listen to her, is that this message of God’s love will put an end to abortion with the power of love.”