West Virginia House of Delegate Saira Blair
Saira Blair, elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 2014 at the age of 18, addressed the National March for Life and the Youth conference the day afterward about being an outspoken pro-life and youth advocate in the political arena.
Her interest in politics began with the Youth in Government organization her state, which encourages young people to write legislation to present to the West Virginia government. Instead of waiting until she graduated from university and got a job before considering a political career, she decided to get involved immediately.
Blair, who is also attending West Virginia University, encouraged the youth in attendance to get involved in election campaigns by volunteering. Her father Craig was a member of the state House of Delegates and later a state senator. The younger Blair, a Republican, was re-elected in 2016 with nearly 70 per cent of the vote.
She said that her views have not always pleased everyone, but that she doesn’t let them bother her. The young Baptist-raised politician co-sponsored pro-life legislation in her first year as a legislator, including requiring medication for the preborn children before an abortion so it would not feel pain. She said both bills engendered discussion of the abortion issue.
She said the most difficult part of becoming a pro-life politician for her was overcoming her fear of public speaking. She obviously succeeded after wowing the crowd of more than 15,000 on Parliament Hill and 800 youth at the more intimate youth conference the following day.
