← Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey
Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey
Ep 1323 | ‘Love Is Blind’: Best & Worst, OnlyFans Mogul Dies & the UK Needs a Pro-Life Miracle
01:04:07
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- [00:01]
Ali
What can Love is Blind. Teach us about the importance of having children and the importance of Christian marriage. Today we will discuss Also, the owner of Only Fans has died. There is a lot to learn from his life, his legacy, the judgment that he now faces, but also the hope that we have in the Gospel. We'll also be talking to my friend Lila Rose about the decriminalization of abortion in the uk. We've got all of this and much more on today's episode of Relatable
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Mike
Foreign.
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Ali
Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. Hope everyone has had a wonderful week so far. If you haven't gotten your Share the Arrows tickets, go ahead and get them now, y'. All. We are going to probably, hopefully by the grace of God, run out of tickets before October 10th. That is when Share the Arrows is happening. This is our annual Christian Women's Conference. This is our third year. Hopefully it's going to be even better than the years past, although that is really difficult because the Holy Spirit just filled those rooms. I can't even imagine it being better than it has been. You guys are going to love the speakers, love the worship. You'll make lifelong friendships. This is Gospel centered, no Fluff Christian Teaching Conference. Go to share the arrows.com get your tickets today. All right, let's get into everything that we've got to talk about today. They are all connected and I love when all of my subjects are connected in one way. All right, first we've got to talk about the most serious, or I guess it's a competition for what is the most serious issue that we're talking about today. But when you're talking about people's eternal destination and eternal judgment, I would say there's a lot of gravity that that that comes with that. I want to talk about two men who profited off of the exploitation and women and children for many years of their life that they have both now died in the same week. So I want to ask some questions and how did these men become heroes in our society? How should Christians react when wicked people like these people die? And how does the Gospel inform what we think about abusers? What we think about justice for abusers? The first of these two men is the now deceased owner of OnlyFans. His name was Leonid Radvinsky. He died this week at the age of 43 following a cancer battle. And just a little bit about this person. I didn't know anything about him. I had never asked who owns the adult content site Only Fans. But it turns out that he had actually been in the illicit online content industry since the late 90s, he operated a network of websites that advertised access to hacked passwords of adult websites. So this is something he was doing early 20s, late teens in his life. These websites often promised illegal content to attract clicks. These sites made him millions of dollars. And then in 2000, his site password Universe published a link claiming to offer pedophiles more than 10,000 illegal preteen passwords. Another one of Radvinsky's, I think I'm pronouncing his name right. One of his sites had a link for the hottest underaged hardcore containing 16 year olds. Okay, so this is how he built his empire. This is how he made millions of dollars. Not just through technology, not just through your run of the mill depraved pornography, but child sexual exploitation. His site Ultra Passwords promised a link containing the best illegal teen password. And I, it's really hard to even read some of this stuff, but he promoted things like bestiality, literally all kinds of sexual depravity on these websites. Now here is also another side of this is that he wasn't just openly promoting sexual degradation of women, children and animals. There is also a deceptive side of this because there's no evidence that these passwords actually gave access to illegal material. Instead, the model appears to have relied on affiliate style traffic generation, directing users to partner sites and exchange for revenue. And so I assume that is how he has skirted the law. That was why he was able to die at the age of 43, a free man and not in prison. He continued working throughout his life within the online adult industry. In 2018, he purchased only fans, which at the time was a relatively small subscription based platform. There were 13 million users in 2019, which is already huge. But then after Ravinsky purchased the company, the site expanded rapidly. It became closely associated with paid porn content. I guess that's not always what it was, but after he owned the company that's became, that became its bread and butter attracted a large global user base. It is this subscription based platform for those of you who don't know where creators sell exclusive content directly to fans. It is very often, in fact, I think at least in the public conscious, it is almost exclusively sexually explicit content. It has become super successful since he took over. It's generated hundreds of millions in revenue, attracting millions of creators, tens of millions of pain users. It took off really because of COVID lockdowns. And there's like such a lesson there about isolation and loneliness and purposelessness and how this leads people to seek fleeting pleasure in some kind of superficial companionship and online pornography. I think the thing about Only Fans that is different also than just like going to pornhub or something like that, is that the users sometimes feel like they've built a relationship with this person and it's more curated to a specific niche of an audience. And so you could see why a bunch of these lonely men, and it is vast majority of men during this very lonely isolated time, would turn to these sexual, superficial Internet relationships via Only Fans. Paying subscribers surged by over 500 to reach 82 million. In November 2020, only fans generated $400 million in revenue, a 540% increase from the previous year. 80% coming from US users. The number of creators grew nearly fivefold to 1.6 million. That's 1.6 million people in the world selling their bodies for money. Ravinsky during this time, he became a billionaire. He became a billionaire in 2021. He more than doubled his net worth to 4.7 billion. By the time of his death, he eventually was making $1.9 million a day from people selling their bodies, people buying the bodies, really just images and videos of the bodies of image bearers of God. I mean, what a dirty business. And it also just goes to show that money not only can't buy you happiness, we know that to be true, but it can't buy you health, and it can't help you skirt death. The success of OnlyFans and its deception of its creators is staggering. In the late 90s, it was estimated that they were more about 1600 porn actors, mostly based in LA. Today, Only Fans alone has over 4.6 million creators, with almost a million new creator accounts created in the last year alone. Meaning that over 2, 500 creators sign up each day. And these girls are lured by stories of these top creator creators. We've talked about some of their ridiculous stunts in the past, and there was even one who claimed to recently become a Christian, but then at the same time was like, I'm not gonna stop doing what I'm doing. So a little confused about that testimony. I guess we'll see about that. But very famous women who get lots of Instagram followers, get lots of sponsorships in addition to the money that they're making from subscriptions. And these impressionable girls, teenagers, 20 year olds, think that they're going to be able to do the same thing. They think that they're going to be able to gain financial independence and fame from Only Fans. But the average creator on Only fans only earns $131 a month. I mean, one of the reasons that not many users are making a lot of money is actually, I think probably because there are so many viewers of pornography that, and so many creators for pornography. Really, like that's really what it is. There are so many creators now. That democratization of pornography, if you will, has actually probably made it more difficult for the creators to make more money. But there are a lot, a lot of people who are consuming pornography. About 67% to 78% reportedly of US men report having used pornography at some point. I had to double check this number because it is so stunning. But I found that 87% of men between 18 and 35 in the US 87% report watching porn at least once a week. This has enabled just new levels of depravity. I mean, you can argue whether it's a supply or a demand issue. I mean both are sinful. You're sinful for supplying it, but you're also sinful for demanding it. I mean, I don't think that there's going to be a supply if there's not a demand. You could say there's not going to be a demand if there's not a supply. I actually think it's the first. Like I don't think that there's going to be as much of a supply if there weren't such a high demand among men for pornography. And then you have people like Lily Phillips, that's the person I was talking about earlier, who said that she became a Christian. I pray to the Lord that's true. But she famously slept with a hundred men and 24 hours. She's this big only fan store and now she wants to break the world record of sleeping with 919 men in a day. And so when you, when you combine virality, which only fans does, and being able to make millions and millions of dollars, the fame, the success, the prominence with selling your body for sex. I mean it is just unfathomable to most of us just the levels of degradation that people will, that people will go to. And then of course you've got the abuse behind all of this. Like it's not just this glamorous life of consensual adults consuming and selling sex. According to a survey of only fans seekers, 6% of respondents self disclosed that traffickers helped create and market their only fans account. 11% were aware of minors with accounts. 30% received private messages from suspected traffickers. 34% reported negative physical mental health outcomes. Of course that's true. 120 24. Reuters investigation found that over 120 plus police complaints in the US involved explicit content posted without consent. Case files examined by Reuters also cited more than 200 explicit videos and images of kids. I can't even describe, I can't even read the last sentence, but explicit sexual rape interactions with children. All sexual interaction with children is rape and assault. Like I just, I just want to make sure that you know that. That's why I don't even like using the phrase child pornography. It's not pornography. It is the sexual abuse of children that people are making money off of. So this person made his fortune off of this. Off of at least and you know, the first decades of his career trying to tempt people towards accessing child sex abuse material. He made money off of child sex abuse material. Sex abuse of adults, the exploitation and the objectification of bodies, that is his legacy. And now he has met his maker. So I'll get more on that in just a second. Let me pause and tell you about our first sponsor for the day. It's Sweetheart Nutrition. In this very dark world, we want to be able to support companies that are part of the light, that are lights in the darkness and that are doing good by glorifying God. And not only the products they make, how they treat their customers, how they lead their families, but also what causes they are donating to and supporting. That's why I love We Heart Nutrition. For all of those reasons, Jacob and Kristen are the real deal, Christ centered mom and dad who decided that they were going to create this supplement company so that all of the supplements that their customers would take would be in the most bioavailable form. That means every ingredient is actually absorbed by your body and to be able to give you the energy that you need so that your hair, skin and nails can look their best and so that all parts of your body can function optimally. That's why I rely on We Heart Nutrition for every single supplement that I take and have since 2024. It's made a big difference in my blood work. They also donate 10% of every sale to Pro Life pregnancy centers across the country. They've donated over a million dollars to those pregnancy centers. It's a win all around. Y' all go to weheartnutrition.com use code ALI for 20% off weheartnutrition.com code ALI and before we head back to our episode, I also want to remind you of Blaze tv. This is another way to fight back against the darkness, to fight back against evil. Not only listening to this podcast, which helps a lot too, thank you so much. But subscribing to Blaze tv, that's how you make sure we're supported. We never know when these big tech companies are going to change their mind and decide. We don't want Christian or conservative or pro life content to be circulating. So you want to make sure that we are supporting the content that we are giving you. Exclusive, exclusively for Blaze tv. And you can get all kinds of investigations, documentaries, all kinds of good stuff. But also you're supporting us and you're supporting the cause of Christian and conservative messaging in America, which is really necessary. So go to Blazetv.com ally save $20 on your annual subscription when you do that. Blazetv.com Code Alley. So Ravinski commercialized sex and rape, even the rape of minors, by promising both those selling their bodies and those buying their bodies that they can do these things without consequence. Just give your body and there's only upside. You'll get money, you'll get fame, you'll get pleasure. And that is exactly how Satan works. He exaggerates the benefits and downplays the consequences of sin. And it's the same story that we see going all the way back to the Garden of Eden. Just eat this fruit and you'll be like God. You will not surely die. There is some truth, of course, to what Satan said to Adam and Eve. There is. There was a new knowledge that was accessed by Adam and Eve when they ate of the fruit. A knowledge that at that point only God seemingly had. The knowledge, for example, that they were naked. The knowledge that disobedience to God comes with shame. And it was true that they didn't die immediately. But what did Satan obscure? That the knowledge of good and evil would spiral into a millennia of brutality, bloodthirst. That there would be pain, there would be punishment, there'd be separation from God. That not that day, but one day they would actually die. That the perfect fellowship that they had with their Creator and creation would end. And Satan does something really similar when he tempts Jesus in the wilderness. He uses God's own word to try to convince Jesus to bow down to him. But Jesus refused Satan's misuse of scripture with a proper use of scripture. And he refuses to obey the devil. Understanding the Bible and theology really matters. There's lots to be learned there. Temptation, when coupled with half truths, promises of pleasure and satisfaction and self glory when accompanied by loneliness or desperation or isolation, is really hard to resist. The good news is this. That's all the bad news. But the good news is that God is really good, that he is really gracious, that he loves us so much. And he loves us so much that he gives us parameters and rules for our body that are good for us. Before the fall, he gives us the model for what healthy sex looks like in Genesis 1, when he marries Adam and Eve, one man, one woman, and tells them to have children, multiply, have dominion over the earth. Our earthly union and marriage is reflective of the eternal marriage between Christ and his bride, the Church. As we read in Ephesians 5, that's how important it is. That's how beautiful it is. And that's not to say that only a marriage you can have satisfaction or obey God. But that is the only context where you can have healthy sexuality and sexual relations. Everywhere else in Scripture we read that we must flee sexual immorality, that we should avoid it at all costs. We should run away from it, like Joseph ran away from Potiphar's wife. Jesus actually says that it's better to pluck out your eye. It is better to pluck out your eye than to lust after a woman who is not your wife. First Corinthians 6, 18, 20 really sums this up. It says, flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body. But the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you are bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. This Christian idea of the body as sacred is seen throughout Scripture. Yes, that we are made bodily by God in his image, but then also that we have a Savior that came to earth bodily, that he is Emmanuel, God with us. That he became a human or he took on human form, that he rose again bodily. That we are promised a resurrection of the bodies, that we will have not only a paradise one day, but we will have a new heaven and a new earth. The physical, the bodily really matters to the Lord who created us. It's the opposite message, actually, that we hear from the world, and you'll hear from worldly people, that it's actually Christianity that denigrates pleasure or denigrates the body. No, no, no. We have such a sacred view of the body. It's the world that thinks that the body is just an object to be commercialized, to be sold, to be lusted after, to simply make money off of this guy Rovinsky, just like all of us. He must stand before the Lord. He must stand before the judgment seat of God and give an account for promoting these things. And unless he repented before death, he will pay for his sins forever and ever. I mean, it is really clear throughout Scripture that it is no small thing to tempt people, especially Christians, to sin. I think of Jesus's words in Matthew 18:6, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Jesus said, that would be a better fate. Think about how awful that would be. I mean, that would be a terrible, terrible fate for anyone. And he said, no, it's, that's actually better. It's better that you do that or have that consequence than what is actually coming for you. If you are the source of temptation for the little ones who believe in Christ. Wow, that's a really big deal. Quick pause to tell you about Seven Weeks Coffee, a very fitting sponsor because this is a pro life coffee company. At seven weeks gestation, that baby inside the womb is just the size of a coffee bean. Yet he or she is fully made in God's image, worthy of protection. That's why Seven Weeks Coffee donates a percentage of every sale to pregnancy centers across the country. They have now donated well over a million dollars to pregnancy centers, so they really put their money where their heart is. But they're also offering you amazing coffee. Really high quality, really good tasting. It's a coffee we drink. We absolutely love it. My mom, who has been a coffee drinker forever, she drinks seven Weeks coffee and loves it. So just trust me, it's really good. Plus, you'll be allowing your coffee to serve a higher purpose. Subscribe and save 15 today. Save an extra 10 with my code ALLY. Go to 7weekscoffee.com code ALI. Then we've got someone else. We've got someone else who is in another industry entirely. But it's very similar, as I'll explain. We've got Kermit Gosnell. He is the Philadelphia abortion provider. You probably remember him. He is well known now for killing thousands of babies both in and outside of the womb. He killed mostly babies inside the womb, but also outside of the womb. He has now died in prison at the age of 85. Sources estimate that 15,000 abortions were carried out over his 31 year career. 15,000 babies. He was convicted in 2013 on several counts of murder that included the killing of three infants after they were Born late term abortions that were illegal, and then the death of a mother during an abortion procedure, which he botched. I mean, it's not really that surprising that he wasn't a great medical provider. He didn't really care about the sanctity of life or the protection of his patients. Prosecutors in the case were able to prove that babies were born alive. I'm just warning you, this is really hard to listen to. During illegal late term procedures, these infants were then killed after birth by severing their spinal cords with scissors. Staff testified this was routine and even had a nickname called snipping. That's according to the Associated Press. The grand jury also described how babies would be moving, breathing, making sounds after delivery. One infant reportedly was left alive for an hour before being killed. And these are just stories from one person. I testified before Congress back in 2019 in favor of Trump's pro life measures that his administration had been taking the first time around. And I told story after story of how pro abortion law had led to not only the mistreatment of children inside the womb, but mistreatment of their mothers and the abuse and the slaughter of babies outside the womb. I told the story of this nurse named Jill Stanek who found this little 22 week old baby who had just been aborted alive and dying in a supply closet. And he had been aborted because he had down syndrome, y'.
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Emma
All.
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Ali
I don't even think we understand how often this stuff happens. This guy just happened to be caught. Investigators found that his facility was filled with bags and bottles of babies and jars of body parts. He cracked jokes, according to the grand jury, about babies whose necks he had just slit. That's according to the New York Post. And so not because of the abortions that he committed, but because of the murder of the babies outside of the womb because of his negligence toward the mother. He was serving three consecutive life sent without the possibility of parole. I saw a user on X that he posted that at the time the media refused to cover this. And there is this picture that I guess was going around, reported at the time of the press pool at Gosnell's trial. You can see it right there. And how few reporters showed up. They didn't want to cover it because they don't want to show people the reality of the abortion industry. The injustice, the brutality, the violence, the always goes on an abortion, okay? Remember that this guy operated legally for years and he was enabled to do that because of pro abortion law. Because of course, if you don't care about killing a baby at 20 weeks. Why morally, would you care about killing a baby who's a little bit bigger, a little bit more developed? I mean, really, time, size, we expect those to be good arbiters or good determinants of someone's morality. We expect those things to have the power to place moral limits on a person. That's okay with murdering a helpless child? Of course not. And it also just goes to show, like, how we don't have a good sense of consistent morality in the United States or maybe really anywhere, that it's an illegal atrocity to kill babies minutes after they're born, but not minutes before that, not months before that. Really, we're going to allow time and size and location to determine whether or not a human is worth living, whether or not a human is really a person. Not me. Not me. I'm not willing to do that. That's way too arbitrary. That. That's trusting in myself way too much. I think the safest place that I can start is believing that all people are people from the moment of conception. And to just be on the safe side, I'm going to advocate for protecting them and not murdering them, no matter their size, age, or location. So he made his money, he made his fame exploiting women, convincing women again that this is not that big of a deal, that this is not really a baby. Exploiting their bodies, harming their bodies, and then killing the children. And in some ways, like this is always the logical outcome of a culture that not only degrades baby life, but degrades a woman's body, degrades sex is something that is not sacred. I mean, self worship, the worship of the self, the worship of sex is always going to lead to child sacrifice. And so these people really go hand in hand. And obviously both of them have now met their Maker and met their Creator. And unless there was repentance before they died, there will be eternal judgment. We've got some verses on that that show us really clearly. Revelation 21:8. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. Galatians 6, 7, 8. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, that he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. New 1, 3. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power. And the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. Okay, so the Lord cares about sin. He cares about the shedding of innocent blood. He cares that his people are avenged. He cares enough to do something about evil. And Jesus is coming back and will take care of all of it. But in the meantime, there is punishment for those who die in sin, who. Those. For those who die without repentance. Now, the radical news is also that if these two people on their deathbed put their faith in Christ, if Christ saved them before they died, no matter what they've ever done, they are in heaven right now like they are in fellowship with the saints and the members of the household of God. They have been completely forgiven. And it's that message that is very confusing for people, that, yes, Jesus even took the punishment for them upon the cross. If by grace, through faith, they have been saved. And we don't know that. I can actually hope that. Because the reality is, if we read some of those verses like in Revelation, it's not just the sexually immoral. It's not just the pornographer. It's not just the abortionist. It's not just the murder. It's the cowardly. I think cowardly. It's the faithless. I've been faithless. It's the idolater. I've probably idolized something that I shouldn't have. Their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. So if I want grace for me and I want grace for the people I know, then, gosh, grace has to be big enough to also cover these detestable people that we've talked about today. That is the radical message of the Gospel. I think of the thief on the cross in Luke 23, verses 42 through 43. And the thief on the cross said, jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, truly, I say to you today, you will be with me in paradise. Paul says who, of course, persecuted Christians, murdered Christians, approved of the execution of Christians before, when he was Saul, before he became Paul. First Timothy 1:15 through 16. He says the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. First John 1:9 says, it's so simple. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and Just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. All unrighteousness. So I hope that's a comfort to you. Probably none of you hopefully fit into the category of the two men that we talked about today. But some of you might be feeling like you're too far off, like you've done too much, like you've gone too far. Like, you know, it hasn't been a straight line from A to B that you were a Christian. You wandered off, and now you're wondering if God can accept you back. And look, God's grace is big enough. He's big enough for all of it, and he has the power to help you repent and to not be a slave to sin anymore. The gospel is for you, too. And I'm just so thankful. I'm thankful for God's judgment. People are very uncomfortable with the reality of hell and eternal punishment. And then you read about people like this and you're like, okay, well, I'm glad that the bad guy gets his comeuppance at some point. But also I'm so thankful for the gospel that his grace also applies to me through faith as much as it can apply to anyone else who puts their faith in him. All right, we got more to talk about, and we'll get there in just a second. Let me pause, tell you about our next sponsor first, and that is Javity. Javity has helped me optimize my health, and so a lot of my sponsors, you'll notice, are about health and making me feel my best, best. Super important to me as a mom of three that I am able to bring my best to my kids every day. That means I want as much energy as I can to run around and to be present with them and also for me to have sound mind, both for them and for you, every day. And so I want to make sure I really know what's going on with my body. And that is why I used Jevity. They send a mobile phlebotomist to you that takes your blood, gets a few vials, super, super convenient, completely painless. They send them off. You get the results in your Jevity app. They're broken down in a really clear way. And then you have this 30 minute explanation from a doctor that explains to you all of your results, gives you recommendations for how you should be working out, how you should be eating, the things you need to do to make your body work even better. It was so helpful for me to get a really clear picture of what's going on and how I can be as healthy as possible and steward this body that God gave me. Go to gojevity.com ally use code ALI for 20 off. That's gojevity.com Alli. Okay, y', all, we've got some lifestyle pitter patter. All right. For those of you who are unfamiliar with love is blind, it is this show where singles date one another in pods. These soundproof rooms where contestants can hear one another. They can't hear what's outside of them, and they cannot see each other. Okay. So they can only get to know each other through conversation. Participants can only see each other after a proposal. Now, not everything is a marriage proposal. I don't think I only watched one season. But not everyone gets married at the end. But the show follows their lives together up until the altar when the contestants finally decide whether or not to get married. And people are talking about this season in particular for a couple reasons. One, because of how one couple talks about kids, one contestant, and how the sister really just kind of like, doesn't like kids and talks about kids as if they're burdens. But then on the other side of it, you've got this, like, very Christian stable seeming couple that is sharing, like, this really sweet testimony. So. So first I want to talk about these viral clips that are going around of this one contestant, Emma, talking about how she feels about having kids. Here's thought 3.
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Emma
I definitely want kids. It's like, okay, we've, we've done so much together in our married life. Now let's put that love into a little baby.
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Mike
I want to find the right partner, but kids change the whole dynamic.
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Ali
Yeah.
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Emma
Listen, I know I want, but it doesn't necessarily mean that I need to have them right away.
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Mike
I AM Not a 100% yes, but I'm not a no. I know a lot of people really want kids, but for me, I don't know yet.
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Emma
I appreciate you being super honest with me about it. Thank you.
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Mike
I'm adopted. I do not know my birth family or if they are going to pass down any medical problem that scares me about having a child.
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Ali
Okay, so she doesn't know if she's going to pass down any health problems that she has from her biological parents. Now, there are some people out there who would say, oh, that's totally legitimate reason to not have kids. I don't think that's a legitimate reason to not have kids. We live in a fallen world. I'm not saying that disease is a good thing or a fun thing, but our Kids are going to get sick, they are going to always potentially have something wrong with them. We are not promised perfect progeny, like we are not promised perfect health for ourselves or for our children. And yet we are still called, I think, to the selflessness of having children if you are married and able to have children. She also talks about pre cancerous birthmarks that she had removed to prevent melanoma. She didn't know how that health would affect her having children. I understand that concern a little bit more. It seems to me like this perspective, however, on having children is really more about, as she said at the beginning, changing the dynamic of marriage. It is true that children changes the dynamic of marriage, but like in a really beautiful way. Not saying it's not hard, it is difficult. Like sleeping less is just difficult. Having another person to care for and think about is difficult. Your schedule changes, your priorities change, your energy level changes. But this is part of what's being human. We're so used to all of these automated, automated things, removing the friction of inconvenience in our lives that I think that we believe that we are entitled to a convenience filled life. And that's just not true. And also unending and unconditional convenience in every area of life doesn't make you a better person. It's actually like the pain from stretching metaphorically, that I think makes you better. And then also children are just awesome. There's something very joyful and fulfilling about having kids to love and to care for. But this really is a sticking point for this couple as they go back and forth about whether or not she wants kids. You can see from the very beginning this is really important to him and she really doesn't know. And then they go to their. They visit her family. So I guess they like each other in a lot of other ways. But then they talk to the sister and then the sister has this to say about children sought for.
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Lila Rose
I'm somebody who grew up my whole
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Mike
life wanting to be a mom and I have two kids and I wake up some days and I'm like, why did I like, this is the hard. You told them that, I'm sure.
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Emma
And my rebuttal to that is, do you regret it? And she said, no. And I said, then that's all you need to know.
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Mike
I would say though, if I lived another life, like, I don't regret having my children and I love my children, but if I got to the end of my life and they said, you can do it again, I wouldn't have kids, okay? Because there's a beautiful thing about living a life for yourself, too.
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Ali
Sure.
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Mike
So my concern is, as somebody who wanted this and is currently living it and knows how hard it is if somebody chooses to have kids simply because they're trying to make a partner happy, that's one of the most terrifying thoughts,
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Lila Rose
and especially for Emma.
- [36:10]
Mike
Like, I love her to death, and
- [36:11]
Lila Rose
I would not be able to live
- [36:13]
Mike
with myself if I. I didn't say that.
- [36:15]
Ali
Oh, my goodness. What a horrible thing to say about your own children. I feel the exact opposite. You know, there are times when you start thinking about maybe a mistake that you made or something that you wish that you had done differently, and you think about if someone offered you to go all the way back to when you were 22 so you could write those wrongs, or you could make a different decision that you think would lead to better outcomes and how tempting that is. Obviously that's not possible. But the thing I always think about when I consider, okay, would I want to go back and make a different choice from the obviously bad choice that I made in some scenario? I'm always like, no, because I'm afraid that that new route would take me away from my husband and my kids. Like, there are so many different details that God orchestrates in our lives that lead us to the people that we marry, that lead us to the kids that we have, that even if I could go back and correct every single mistake that I have ever made, I wouldn't. Wouldn't do it if there was a potential chance that I wouldn't have the children and the husband that I have. And so to not feel that sense of, like, gratitude and preciousness over the children you've created, I think is really sad. And I think probably it is the sister that is really influencing the other sister there. I mean, to see your sister say that, you know, she's not really sure if she would choose to have your nieces and nephews again. You're scared of living with that kind of regret. That just goes to show how important it is to have people around us who affirm life, who love children, who love family. And I know we can't always control who is in our family and the attitudes they have. But it's really important that we protect our hearts and minds, the things that we are consuming, the conversations that we're having to protect ourselves from bitterness towards kids or this wrong mentality that you are entitled to live for yourself. You're not entitled to live for yourself. And, like, you will become a brat if you do that. I'M not saying that you have to have kids not to live for yourself. But if you don't commit yourself to some kind of self sacrifice, if you don't purposely seek out sacrifice and inconvenience, you will become a bad person. Okay? God made us to deny ourselves, to work, to sacrifice, to do really difficult things beyond what we think we're physically and mentally capable of, for his glory and the good of other people, children. A wonderful way to do that. If God hasn't called you to that. There are other ways that you can sacrifice on behalf of those who need it, that are also glorious and beautiful. It can sanctify you as a human being. So this just self centered mentality makes me sad. Dude, run, run, run, run. This is not the family you want to marry into. This is not the person you want to marry. This is going to be something that, that follows you for the rest of your life that you will always regret if you keep walking in this direction. Okay? All right. Now let's talk about positive part of this because there is a positive couple here that had a wonderful Christian testimony that I think is really sweet and just like really rare in reality television. Let me go ahead and pause though and tell you about my next sponsor before we get there. And that is Good Ranchers. So thankful for Good Ranchers. America is turning 250 this year and so a great way to support America would be to support this American owned, family owned company that, that supports American farms and ranches. It seems like every week I hear of another story from a farmer or rancher who is struggling so much to survive. They're under a lot of pressure to sell their farms to these big tech companies or to commercial farmers. And they don't want to because they have these farms passed down from generations and they really care about the quality of their meat, they care about the welfare of their livestock. And so if you want to keep these family farms and ranches alive, then you need to get your meat from good ranchers. That's what we do. That's what we've been doing for five years. Ships right to your front door on dry ice. Makes it really easy, really healthy, really high quality seafood seed oil free chicken nuggets, beef steak, chicken, all that good stuff. If you've been thinking about this and waiting, just go ahead and do it now. Go to goodranchers.com use code ALI get 25 off your first order. Goodranchers.com code ALI. Okay, this just in. I did not know this is how it concluded. Emma and Mike did make it to the altar and this is what happened.
- [40:41]
Emma
Emma, I do, I do love you right now. I'm not ready to say I do. I want kids and I want to know that you definitely 100% want to have a family with me. I don't want to say yes and jump into something and then it changed down the road and it's hard because I, you know, I'm sorry.
- [41:19]
Ali
Okay. I guess I can't take credit for giving Mike advice and him listening since this has already happened. But good job, Mike. That was the right decision. I'm not saying that Emma is unmarriable or, you know, inherently bad. Maybe she'll make a different decision. I just. It's not even only the kids thing. It's just that self centered mentality that I think is not going to be good for anyone. And I really hope that Mike finds the woman for him. A faith filled woman first of all, but then also a woman that he can raise kids with because that is really important. Okay, let's talk about this other Christian couple. So in one of the first dates between this couple, the guy Vic mentions that he wants a God fearing woman. And then the woman Christine ends one of their early dates with prayer. 7.
- [42:07]
Christine
Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you today in prayer and ask for continued love, patience and understanding and an eagerness to grow deeper. May we open our hearts and may we open our minds throughout this unique journey as we further this walk towards a marriage. Amen.
- [42:29]
Emma
Amen and Amen.
- [42:30]
Ali
And Amen.
- [42:31]
Christine
I literally wrote Amen and Amen.
- [42:35]
Ali
That was beautiful. That's sweet. I don't really know anything else about them or you know, their theology or anything like that, but I just think that they. That is a sweet moment that you don't typically see on tv. They were also a favorite this season. There's this subreddit called Love is Blind on Netflix. I would never recommend you going on the hellscape that is Reddit, but one user remarked that they are by far the best couple this season and probably the best couple ever in Love is Blind. That is high praise from Reddit. This couple was one of the only of one of the only couples to get married at the end of the season. Christine explained that their shared faith was really what sealed the deal during an interview with Kayleigh McEnany. I was also on this episode with Kayleigh McEnany and she was tossing to this segment and I was so glad to get to watch this. So sweet.
- [43:23]
Lila Rose
Sadi, we've had a lot of conversation
- [43:25]
Christine
about covenant versus contract. And, you know, and there is such a really true meaning behind that of when you have that covenant and you have that foundation, it makes a world of difference in the relationship. Like, I've never felt so confident and so at peace and ease and relationship, relationship, let alone a marriage, which can be stressful and difficult, especially when it happens so quickly. But God's been very, very present.
- [43:47]
Ali
Okay, that's incredible. I, you know, don't necessarily recommend finding your future husband or wife on a reality TV show because so much gossip and innuendo and temptation and sensationalism typically can color the relationship and it can make it really difficult to truly get to know someone. But God can work through anything. And I love that he really like hoisted up a couple to hopefully be an example to other people. And you never know who this is going to reach. Maybe someone out there is like, I want what they have. I want that kind of joy and stability and peace that they seem to have. And so I'm just thankful for their example. Lots to learn today from our reality TV and lifestyle pitter patter. Now we are going to talk to my friend Lila Kayla Rose about what the Parliament in UK just did to decriminalize abortion. All right. Last week I was so disturbed to see this news on X. On March 18 last Wednesday, the House of Lords in the UK voted to decriminalize abortion at any point in pregnancy, all nine months. Here's a clip of that that my
- [45:04]
Lila Rose
lords there have voted contents 148 not contents 185. So the not contents have it.
- [45:13]
Ali
Okay, so you can kind of hear the cheers there. And they have decided that it is legal through all nine months of pregnancy to allow abortion in the uk And I want to bring on my good friend Lila Rose, she is the founder and president of Live Action to just kind of of break this down for us. First, I, I just want to know exactly how this can happen considering that a very small percentage of people in the UK actually support abortion through all nine months and yet their representatives have just made this legal.
- [45:46]
Lila Rose
It's absolutely devastating. Ali. According to a recent poll, less than 1%, 1% of people in the UK want abortion to be legal for all nine months. So, so how did this happen? Basically, the British Parliament is supposed to represent the people. That's not what happened here last summer in an omnibus bill. So there was a big bill that had to do with the police and had to do with criminalization and crimes. And the pro bort activists in Parliament stuck in A decriminalization statute that would legalize abortion through all nine months in the uk. Now this got less than an hour of debate last summer and it passed the British Health of Commons and now last week it went to the British House of Lords and there was some more debate. But ultimately they kept this provision in there, which ultimately means you can end the life of your baby up until the moment of birth and there's no criminal penalties for you. You can order an abortion pill via the Mail, you can take it at home, you can kill your 32 week old baby. This actually happened with a woman doing this to her 32 week old baby and there is zero liability, there is zero criminal penalty for that. So it's a very dark day in the UK and of course the pro life movement is galvanized now saying have to put a stop to this. This is not even the will of the British people.
- [46:57]
Ali
Is it even possible for pro lifers in the UK to put a stop to this or is it just. The deal is done, if they get
- [47:05]
Lila Rose
enough members of Parliament they can reverse this. So it's a matter of rallying the political power and support. There are pro life members of Parliament, but the pro life movement has been really, I think, thrown to the side over the last few decades in the uk they are not, not really a fighting force yet. But I think that can change if enough people rise up and say we're going to band together to ensure that children are protected and families are prioritized. And I do think there's a growing unrest in the UK about how the government is quite frankly handling governance. This has to do in part with the protection of women and girls in the state from rape in the countries from rape and from attacks. It has to do with the lack of freedom of speech in the UK where people are, are praying outside abortion clinics or hospitals where abortions are happening and they're thrown into jail for that. You make a comment on social media that the government disapproves of, you go to jail for that. So there is growing unrest in the UK about politics and I think people of good faith and goodwill, pro life people, pro family people, need to build a fighting force like we have here in the United States and believe that it's possible and with the right political will make the change happen that needs to happen.
- [48:12]
Ali
Do you know who is a part of the abortion lobby in the uk? I mean, I just think about who would have the motivation to try to sneak something like this in without the support of the public. What kind of power do they have and who is profiting off of a radical change like this? And you might not know the answer. I don't know the answer, but I didn't know if you had any insight there.
- [48:33]
Lila Rose
Well, I know a couple things. There's Marie Stopes International. It's basically their Planned Parenthood. And they're very powerful. They're very embedded with the UK healthcare system. I mean it's very much healthcare is very much socialized. So the government has its hands basically in all healthcare in the uk. And unfortunately the health care system at large I think is basically hijacked by pro aborts. And that's the case in most of the United States. The difference is the health care bureaucrats in the United States or the heads of, you know, these healthcare associations are not necessarily calling all the shots for the government in the uk. Those institutions are largely one and the same with the government. So you have pro aborts leading those organizations. They can call short shots for health care policies. And that's what actually happened here, Ali, is that they said that this is actually a health care policy now instead of a legal policy for abortion. Let the doctors decide abortion. These pro abort doctors groups in the uk, instead of let the law intervene to protect these children. I mean, imagine if acog, which is our pro abort association for obstetricians and gynecologists in the usa, was in charge of abortion law in the usa. They would allow not just decriminalization but outright legalizations of abortions through all nine months in all 50 states. There obviously is a dissenting voice, Callum Miller, who's a doctor and other doctors in the UK oppose abortion. We have dissenting voices in the United States. But now those healthcare ideologues who are pro aborts, they're not really healthcare, it's pro death, are now basically one in the same making decisions in the UK government.
- [50:05]
Ali
I saw this professor from Georgetown saying that the US should learn positively from the UK's example that our pro abortion lobby here should shift from trying to legalize abortion through all nine months to decriminalizing. Can you talk a little bit more? Which you did just touch on this, but can you talk a little bit more about the difference? And if you think Planned Parenthood at all are going to go in that
- [50:28]
Lila Rose
direction, I mean, decriminalization and legalization is really one and the same, right? The point of a law is you need to enforce it. If the law is not enforced, what is the point of the law? It's not even a teacher anymore. The law can't even teach right from wrong because people are willfully going out there and breaking it, and there's zero repercussions for them. And in the United States, I mean, practically, Ali, because of the abortion pill, which is sent via mail in the United States, and there's no law that is being enforced to prohibit it from going into pro life states where abortion is banned, we effectively have abortion legalized in the United States, effectively through all nine months of pregnancy, even in pro life states. Now, pro life states have some recourse. They can ban surgical abortions or abortion pills being sold by providers in that state, but if they're shipped in from a provider outside of the state into a pro life state, an abortion pill, the state has very little recourse. This is one of the reasons in the US we're calling on the Trump administration to take the abortion pill off the market, which they have the full power and the right to do. And it would protect women and, of course, babies. But the bottom line is decriminalization is basically the same as legalization. And that's what we're already facing here
- [51:34]
Ali
in the U.S. yeah. And a lot of this, this falls on the shoulders of Republican attorneys general in these states who want to have the power to be able to go after these other states, which they can't sue the other states for shipping, you know, abortion pills or sue the providers in other states. But there's only so much they can do, as you said, until the Trump administration, the hhs, under rfk, decides to do something about it and decides that this is a public health crisis, obviously a moral crisis as well, and we need the Republicans to be willing to stand up and say, I represent pro life constituents. Trump administration, we need you to do something about that, which can be politically a little bit difficult. But that's why we just, we need courage. It's really not about exactly who is in the White House. It is about saving lives. And it's not just the Democrats that we need to be holding accountable. It's Republicans being willing to have enough courage to do the right thing. Thing.
- [52:32]
Lila Rose
You're exactly right, Ally. And I think you do that so well on your show and in your advocacy. I had a meeting with rfk, with Secretary Kennedy in January.
- [52:41]
Ali
Yes.
- [52:42]
Lila Rose
And we sat together, we discussed the abortion pill. I mean, he agreed that it's alarming that the abortion pill lands 1 out of every 10 women with severe side effects, that 1 out of every 22 women land in the emergency room. Because of the abortion pill.
- [52:57]
Ali
Pill.
- [52:57]
Lila Rose
And it is the leading cause of death for children. So 600,000 babies were murdered in the last reported year by the abortion pill. And RFK expressed sympathy for this. He expressed concern it's 100% his jurisdiction and power to take the pill off the market. In fact, it's his job to take lethal drugs that are not helping people, that are hurting people and prevent them from being flooding our market, our American market. So I'm hopeful he expressed interest in removing the pill if there was evidence that they could do their own study of to show its dangers. He, of course, indicated President Trump makes the final call for the administration as the lead executive, of course. But I think that anybody who has a voice on this, which is all of us, and certainly people in the administration, need to raise the alarm bell because this is an action that can be taken right now. It would save hundreds of thousands of lives in the United States to remove this pill for the market. And US Policy impacts UK policy. A lot of these European countries follow what the USA is doing. If we're allowing these pills via mail, they're going to allow these pills via mail. For the sake of our kids and the kids of Europe and the kids of the whole country, of the whole world, we need to be doing the right thing and remove the abortion pill from the market.
- [54:04]
Ali
Yeah, man. Not everyone out there knows what Lila and Live Action do behind closed doors. Yes, she's got a public platform. You see her on her podcast and things like that. But there are so many conversations, I'm probably not even privy to only a few of them that Lila is having with the highest ranking officials in this country to try to save people's lives. And I just think that's incredible. Like all of us, we want these big guests on our show and that's really important. But you are in there primarily to try to persuade these people to save lives. And that, I think is just what sets you apart when it comes to being an advocate. Being an activist is that's what you care about first and foremost. So I'm just so grateful for that. As soon as you were talking about meeting with rfk, I'm just like, praise God, that's who I want. Representing the pro life cause to those people in power. And I think all of us, whether we call our representatives or whether you feel also called to pray, we can pray for that change of heart, that Lila's words, that they would continue to ring in his ears and to seep into his heart and that eventually the Holy Spirit would convict him to do the right thing. So I just want to say thank you for that. Quick pause to tell you about legacy box. This is how you preserve your legacy. If you've got a bunch of VHS tapes or maybe your mom does, or maybe your in laws do, or Polaroids or old pictures and they're just in boxes and boxes collecting dust and you're like, how are we going to move these? How are we going to pass these down to our kids and make sure that they are in good quality forever? Well, it would be a really good idea to go ahead and digitize all of those hard copies of those memories so you can ensure sure that you have them and you can pass them down forever. You just get your box from Legacy box. It's a big cardboard box. You send all of your pictures and your videos there. You send it to them, they digitize it in files, they send that back to you, they send the hard copies back to you. And then there you go, you've got these memories preserved digitally forever. This is an amazing Mother's Day gift, y'. All, or amazing gift for your mom, your wife, your mother in law, your grandmother. What an incredible gift to them, them that they will then just be able to rest assured that all of their memories that they have tried so hard to preserve really will be passed down forever. Go to legacybox.com Alli and you will get a discount. Legacybox.com Allie, Can you, can you talk a little bit more about baby Olivia? Because I saw that you post. Was it North Dakota? Yes.
- [56:37]
Lila Rose
So now we're in seven states. Baby Olivia is this lifelike, medically accurate animation of human development from its earliest beginnings, single cell embryo up until birth. And it just was signed into law in the seventh state in the United States to be put into public school curriculum. So now depending on the state, sometimes it's high school, it'll be junior high, it'll be as young as kindergarten. And we're very excited about this. Our goal is to have the this be seen by every student in America because there's no better way to develop a sense of reverence and really just respect for life when you actually get to learn about how human life develops. So we're, we're thrilled about it. And it's being considered, I think, in 20 other states now across the country.
- [57:22]
Ali
Praise God. That is amazing. And if people want to support that, if they want to see the advancement of that kind of legislation in their own state, what can they do?
- [57:31]
Lila Rose
They can 100% spread awareness about baby Olivia. You can go to liveaction.org there's a drop down menu. You can share that with your friends. The more it's out there, the more people see it, the more you can be an educator to help people know the truth of the beauty of human life. We've seen that 10% of pro choice women, when they see Baby Olivia, say that they now support abortion restrictions and support pro life laws. So this is 100% has an impact on changing hearts on my, on abortion, even though it doesn't mention abortion in all the videos about human development. But you can also support our legislative efforts at Live Action. You can go to liveaction.org you can support us financially to support what we're doing with lawmakers. And you can pray like you said Ali, 100%. It's a spiritual battle. You know, Secretary Kennedy, President Trump, they need our prayers. Prayers to do the right thing, prayers for courage. We need to pray for an end to abortion. We need to pray for the closing of the abortion industry. Pray for mothers and families. And I believe if we as people of God pray, we're courageous in speaking out and we get out there and take action, we can end abortion. It's really a matter of time because God is, is, is the, is the author of the fight and we get to be a part of his work.
- [58:36]
Ali
Amen. Okay, I want to ask you one last thing because I saw this clip circulating, I thought you'd be the perfect person to talk about it. So we have so many people in the country who support the pro life cause. Once you really understand what abortion is, what human development is, it can be kind of simple to move people over to the pro life side. One thing I think that we are still fighting is to educate people on the reality of ivf. People think IVF simply means pro baby. And of course we love babies, we want more babies to be born, but obviously it is much more ethically and morally complex than that. And I saw this story, I don't know if you saw it circulating, but it's about Duke basketball twins. Their names are Cameron and Kaden Boozer. They were conceived through IVF by former NBA player Carlos Boozer and his wife Cece. And the reason they did this is because their older son Carmani had sickle cell disease. So both parents carried this trait. And so they wanted to be able to find a bone marrow match within the embryos for their older son so that he could have a bone marrow transplant and to make sure that their future children did not have sickle cell disease. And so they ended up creating and screening, I think like a dozen embryos. Ten passed the test. They ultimately chose to implant only two that were disease free and a genetic match. And of course, now we have these Duke basketball twins, Cameron and Kayden. So that is some of this context. Let me play this quick clip and then I'll get you to respond to. Doctors harvested 34 eggs from CeCe.
- [60:12]
Mike
10 became fertilized sickle cell free embryos. And among those, only two matched.
- [60:21]
Ali
Only two.
- [60:22]
Lila Rose
Only two were completely healthy and were an identical match for my son's transplant.
- [60:28]
Ali
So when they tell you that, what did you think? We got it. Jackpot. Okay. So a lot of people watching this, they're like, that is incredible. They wanted to save their older son's life and they used to used science to be able to do that and to now create these two talented basketball players. But what are we missing?
- [60:49]
Lila Rose
We're missing the 10 other. It sounds like at least eight, but likely 10 other children. Human lives. Science is clear. This is a unique individual human life. When you create that life in the, in the IVF clinic, this is a new embryo and they decided they weren't good enough and so they killed them. Yeah, that's the part of the story that, you know, with the beautiful music playing and this beautiful, like, warmly lit interview was completely Left out. There's 10 other kids whose lives were created and then taken after they were screened and deemed not good enough. And that is barbaric. Ally. That is why we raised the ALARM BELL About IVF, because every life created via IVF is 100% valued, purposed, beautiful, a gift made in God's image. That's why IVF is so destructive. Because in the process of IVF, for every one live birth embryo, you're talking usually 10 others that are destroyed because you're trying to achieve that one live birth. And so you just recreate lives, you grade them, and then you destroy them. So we love life. That's why we oppose ivf.
- [61:53]
Ali
Yeah. People don't realize that there are actually more unique lives that are tossed out, killed every year via IVF than in the abortion industry. And so we're just trying to plea for consistency that if a life is a life, no matter how small, no matter what he or she looks like, no matter the level of sentience, then that not only applies to inside the womb, but also outside of the womb. So it's this kind of sensitive issue that I think Christians are called to be as clear and courageous on as possible. For the same reasons that we're clear and courageous on abortion. Thank you so much for your clarity and courage, Lila. Just remind everyone where they can find your show show.
- [62:31]
Lila Rose
Thank you, Ally. I'm so grateful for yours. You're such an incredibly important voice. And I'm always grateful when I hear you speaking out on these issues. You can go check out liveaction.org we have a lot of resources there. And we just hope that everyone joins the pro life fight. We're all part of it. And certainly as Christians were called to be voices for God's children.
- [62:47]
Ali
Yes. And everyone check out the Lila Rose show, which is on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, all that good stuff.
- [62:52]
Lila Rose
Thank you, Ali.
- [62:53]
Ali
Thank you.
- [62:53]
Lila Rose
Great to see you.
- [62:59]
Ali
Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of Relatable. And we will be back here on Friday.