An unplanned pregnancy changes everything.
Laura Lynn Hughes knows this well. Pregnant at fifteen, she was faced with a life-altering decision. Should she keep her baby, or seek an abortion?
In her book, Choose Zoe, Laura shares her compelling story as well as the stories of others, tackling everything from abortion to addictions to abusive relationships.
The stories are messy, filled with brokenness, pain, and loneliness. But buried within each story is the beauty of redemption, and the promise of healing and hope.
Zoe is the Greek word meaning “abundant, divine life.” When describing the meaning behind the title of her book, Laura says, “God knew that life based solely on the physical and psychological could be painful, delicate, sometimes cut short, and something we shouldn’t take for granted. It would be challenging, heartbreaking, tragic, and at times unfair.
“That is why Jesus offers us so much more: zoe—the eternal, divine, abundant life. His original design was for humanity to live with a fullness of abundant life in communion with Him, and it is this final description of life that has captured my heart.”1
We invited Laura to join us as a guest on The Empowered Advocate podcast, and we’re excited to share our conversation with you on our latest episode. You can listen below, watch the interview on our YouTube Channel, or listen wherever you find your podcasts.
Time Stamps
2:15 – Laura Hughes shares the story behind the name of the book: Choose Zoe.
4:15 – What does it mean to have a Zoe life in the pro-life movement?
6:00 – Laura shares how she became pregnant at 15 and the unexpected response of her parents.
10:31 – The connection with pregnancy centers, one woman’s story of abandonment, abuse, and life.
16:20 – Laura shares about her daughters’ traumatic experiences with rape and abortion.
22:15 – The impact abortion has on a woman’s life in the most unexpected ways.
27:00 – Laura’s pregnancy loss story
36:35 – The Zoe life in practice.
- Choose Zoe, pg 9-10 ↩