At FIFA 2026 World Cup, abortion survivors to share their stories

Faces of Choice founder Lyric Gillett awoke in the middle of the night with an idea she would later describe as “a dream filled with faces.”

She hastily scribbled the concept and script that would eventually become a commercial that is set to reach large crowds at the FIFA 2026 World Cup.

“It felt as though I had been handed a glimpse of people whose stories had yet to be told,” Gillett told EWTN News. “I wrote everything down immediately.”

Gillett’s idea was about encounter — giving people the chance to encounter the survivors of abortion.

“Again and again, Christ revealed truth through encounter,” Gillett said. “He met people face-to-face. He restored sight not only to the blind but to those who could see physically while remaining blind to deeper realities.”

Gillett’s nonprofit, Faces of Choice, is scheduled to run a series of advertisements during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will reach global audiences. The ads give abortion survivors a chance to speak and be heard.

“My hope is that when the world sees these men and women, something deeper than opinion will be awakened,” Gillett said. “Not because people hear a new argument, but because they find a human being looking back at them.”

Truth through encounter

“At its heart, Faces of Choice is an invitation to encounter,” Gillett said. “We exist to help people see what has too often remained unseen: that behind every discussion about abortion stands a human being made in the image of God, with a name, a face, and a story.”

“The doctrine of the Imago Dei is not merely a theological concept. It is a reality that demands recognition,” Gillett said. “Every human life possesses an inherent dignity that is not earned, granted by society, or dependent upon circumstance. It is bestowed by God himself.”

“For me, this work is not only about defending life,” Gillett said. “It is about restoring visibility to people whose humanity has too often been denied, and inviting both the Church and the world to see them.”

Gillett originally had an advertisement set to play at the Super Bowl in 2020 — but just days before the game, the advertisement was blocked from airing.

“What seemed like a closed door opened an expanse to an enormous gateway — one that has ultimately led us toward the threshold of introducing abortion survivors to the world through the 2026 FIFA World Cup, one of the largest audiences in human history, with projected viewership in the billions,” Gillett said.

Faces of Choice’s motto can be summed up in a simple phrase, Gillett said: “‘Choice’ is not merely a word. ‘Choice’ is a person.”

Finally heard: Abortion survivors speak

Gillett takes inspiration from Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., who “helped reveal the full humanity and dignity of African Americans in a society that had too often ignored both,” she said.

“Most cultural debates eventually reach a point where arguments alone stop stirring hearts,” Gillett said. “Historyʼs great turning points often occur when people come face-to-face with those whose humanity can no longer be denied.”

“Abortion survivors occupy a uniquely powerful place in this conversation, because their very existence reveals a reality many people have never considered,” Gillett said.

Hope Hoffman survived a dilation and curettage abortion at 10 and a half weeks’ gestation, about three months of pregnancy.

“She bears a visible scar on her head from where the abortion instrument cut into and crushed her skull,” Gillett said. “Today she lives with cerebral palsy, yet she radiates joy, courage, a profound appreciation for life, and hope.”

“When someone looks into the eyes of a survivor and realizes, ‘I never knew people like this existed,’ something changes,” she said. “When they understand that saying ‘I supported your mother’s choice’ to a survivor of abortion means the person before them would cease to exist in the success of that ‘choice,’ the conversation moves from argument to conscience.”

Hoffman shared her thoughts, saying: “I became very upset while thinking about how some people say that an unborn child is not a person.”

“Being small, different, or not yet born doesnʼt change who you are,” Gillett recalled Hoffman saying. “I know this better than most.”

Another abortion survivor, Imre Téglásy of Hungary, survived multiple abortion attempts in 1952.

Gillett described him as “remarkable.”

“Since then, he has gone on to help save over 50,000 babies from abortion throughout Europe, raise a large family of his own, and devote himself to serving women and children in need,” Gillett said.

“What stands out most is not simply survival,” Gillett said. “It is what many survivors have done with the lives they were nearly denied.”

“I have met survivors who live with significant physical disabilities, survivors who endured lifelong medical complications, survivors who have wrestled with profound emotional wounds, and survivors who have experienced extraordinary forgiveness and spiritual healing,” she continued. “There is a recurring theme among most of them: gratitude, forgiveness, resilience, and purpose. Many see their lives not merely as lives that were spared but as ones entrusted with a mission.”

“What is heartbreaking is how often they have remained unseen,” Gillett said. “What is transformative is what happens when they are finally heard.”

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/at-fifa-2026-world-cup-abortion-survivors-to-share-their-stories