Longtime pro-life advocates are engaging residents from across the Fairbanks area during the July 29-Aug. 7 Tanana Valley State Fair in Fairbanks.

Interior Right to Life is, again, manning a booth at this year’s fair with the aim of educating the public on critical issues that impact unborn children, those with disabilities and the elderly.

Pamela Samash, who heads up the pro-life effort, said the goal is to “be a voice for the innocent and vulnerable.”

“We share information about bills, news updates, stages of life in the womb,” she said.

The booth also has information and realistic replicas displaying the stages of development in an unborn child’s life.

Often times, those working at the fair engage in “wonderful and sometimes very deep conversations with visitors at our booth,” Samash noted. “Sometimes they share their own testimonies, or they thank us. Occasionally someone might get angry or argumentative but usually it’s curiosity and sharing.”

No one has ever protested the booth, Samash said, and most volunteers have been coming for years. The booth also has many pamphlets about pro-life issues. Kids love the unborn baby replicas, which often prompt question and conversations.

According to Samash, some post-abortive young adults can become defensive and angry at the booth. Most older adults, however, “have already made up their minds for the most part where they stand and will either thank us, ignore us, or snap at us with some look or negative remark. Some ask how they can help or volunteer.”

Samash has some inspirational stories from her years at the booth. Her favorite is when a woman stopped by with a new baby and recalled that a year prior, she had an upcoming abortion appointment, but after visiting the booth, she changed her mind. Other fairgoers go out of their way to tell volunteers that the booth’s pro-life witness encourages them.

Although Interior Right to Life cannot endorse individual politicians, volunteers encourage people to vote yes on calling for a constitutional convention, and urge fairgoers to vote for prolife candidates.

Those interested in helping with the booth can contact Samash at christisourhope@protonmail.com. All volunteers get free tickets for every day they volunteer at the fair. To keep up on the latest news from Interior Right to Life, email Samash at christisourhope@protonmail.com and ask to be added to the newsletter list.

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