(LifeSiteNews) — Joining me on this special episode of The John-Henry Westen Show from Russia is Natalia Moskvitina, president of Women for Life, who is basically “Russia’s Lila Rose.” We discussed her organization’s work to promote a culture of life in Russia, some of the country’s unique pro-family policies, how she became involved in pro-life activism, and more.

After briefly discussing how she became involved in the pro-life movement, I asked Moskvitina about the impact her organization, which has saved more than 9,000 babies from abortion, has had on building a culture of life in Russia. She highlighted several resources that Women for Life offers pregnant women considering abortion that have helped lead them to not abort their child.

“From the very beginning, we simply took each pregnant woman and offered her a psychologist, a doctor for a second opinion, a lawyer, financial assistance, cribs, strollers, basically everything you might need when you find out you’re pregnant,” she said.

“But we realized that it was like fighting windmills. You endlessly look for these strollers and cribs, (and) search for money so that a woman isn’t afraid to be left alone with a baby in her arms,” she added. “But ultimately, laws need to be passed and the medical community needs to be retrained, and we started to focus on that closely.”

I jumped in to ask Moskvitina how Russia went from being extremely anti-child and anti-family for such a long time, going back to the Soviet era, to becoming more pro-life and pro-family than most Western nations. She underscored that since the legalization of abortion in the Soviet Union, this anti-life mentality has spread throughout the world.

READ: ‘They treat children like gold’: Catholic father explains why his family moved to Russia

“As this (pro-abortion) plague began to spread throughout the world, the mentality of society as a whole has changed. And the great misfortune is that it has especially affected women,” she said. “A woman began to equate the right to an abortion with the right to freedom itself. In other words, if you can’t terminate a pregnancy, it’s as if you’re in slavery.”

“But what was forgotten is that abortion itself is slavery, especially for women, because the psychology of accepting evil changes a woman entirely at her core. And women have become embittered,” she added. “(And) not just women, but society as a whole, and not only Russian society, but the world at large.”

Moskvitina continued: “We are seeking comfort, seeking pleasure, we are mired in hedonism; we are not Christ-centered. And this is a big problem, because we have forgotten that a child, a family … is the clearest marker of happiness.”

READ: Mother Teresa warned us that abortion would only bring more bloodshed

Moskvitina emphasized that fortunately Russia is beginning to rediscover that family is the foundation of society.

Then I noted that the Russian pro-life movement, unlike its American and Canadian counterparts, which often include atheist and LGBT pro-life organizations, has kept Christ at its center. Moskvitina explained that Christianity and pro-life advocacy are inseparable in Russia.

“In Russia, all the organizations that advocate for life before birth are Christian organizations, and I think that’s simply inseparable,” she said. “And more and more people are joining the pro-life movement in Russia, but usually it’s a one-way path.”

“(Once) you accept this philosophy of having all the children in your family, you immediately become part of the Church. It’s a single chain of events that should happen in the life of any healthy person,” she added.

To hear more from Natalia Moskvitina, tune in to this episode of The John-Henry Westen Show.

The John-Henry Westen Show is available by video via LSNTV on YouTube, Rumble, Banned, and right here on my LifeSite blog.

It is also available in audio format on platforms such as Spotify, Soundcloud, and Acast. We are awaiting approval for iTunes and Google Play as well. To subscribe to the audio version on various channels, visit the Acast webpage here.

We’ve created a special email list for the show so that we can notify you every week when we post a new episode. Please sign up now by clicking here. You can also subscribe to the YouTube channel, and you’ll be notified by YouTube when there is new content.

You can send me feedback, or ideas for show topics by emailing [email protected].