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October 21, 2016
Pro-life advocates sign the 40 Days for Life United tour bus when it made a stop in Nashville on Sunday, Oct. 9. The 40 Days for Life movement seeks to end abortion by offering prayerful witness in front of abortion clinics. Photo by Mary McWilliams The public area outside the Nashville Planned Parenthood Clinic on Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Boulevard is often the site of those praying to end abortion. But on the sunny, autumn afternoon of Oct. 9, it was also day 12 of 40 and city 46 of 128 of the 40 Days for Life United bus tour.
More than 125 peaceful protestors crowded together, sometimes four or five deep, on the public sidewalk to greet the passengers of the blue bus who brought messages of healing, action and progress in the pro-life cause. The tour, covering all 50 states, is, according to the organization’s website, the “largest nationwide pro-life mobilization in American history, bringing together a record number of people across all 50 states to pray, fast, and publicly stand for life.”
It is a mobilization that 40 Days of Life Chief Executive Officer David Bereit and other pro-life advocates like Nashville 40 Days for Life coordinators Mark Darais and Laura Deer want to continue to grow. The national prayer vigil for the end of abortion began Sept. 28 and continues until Nov. 6.
“Right now there are about 30 churches participating,” Deer said. “We would like a lot more.”
Both she and participant Wendy Holden of St. Ignatius of Antioch Church believe fear keeps many people from getting involved in the movement to stop abortion. Volunteers are asked to join in a peaceful witness to pray in public areas outside clinics that perform abortions.
“You just stand there and pray. You don’t say a word,” said Maureen Banton, who attended the rally with her husband Jim, both of whom pray the rosary frequently in front of abortion clinics. Protesters do not attempt to engage clinic employees or patients.
“Jesus Christ calls us to be a physical witness,” said Holden, who, in addition to her rosary, also holds a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe as a symbol of hope. “She stopped the bloody sacrifices (when she appeared to Juan Diego) and she will stop the bloody sacrifices again.”
“It’s all about tomorrow,” said Bereit. That is how he summed up the work of prayer teams and pregnancy centers. When Bereit talks about “tomorrow,” he means what will happen after the excitement of the rally. He said that the efforts of people like the Holdens and Bantons are inciting huge wins in the effort to save the unborn, affirming that it is not a question of “if” abortion ends, but “when.”
Since 40 Days for Life started in 2007, numerous abortion clinics across the country have closed. When some women see the prayerful witness of 40 Days for Life participants, they end up canceling their appointments to get an abortion, according to Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director who is now a pro-life activist.
Bereit also said that 40 Days for Life knows of 12,000 lives that have been saved since 2007 when it began as a coordinated effort, and 145 confirmed lives have been saved since the start of the bus tour. That figure is updated daily with each rally. It changes as women approach Bereit and tell him how the presence of the faithful near abortion clinics helped to convert their hearts.
Sadly, he reminded the crowd, 1 million lives are lost each year to abortion in the United States.
U.S Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Franklin, who spoke at the rally, said 68 percent of taxpayers, even those who support abortion, do not want public money funding abortions. Blackburn, along with U.S. Rep. Diane Black of Gallatin, serves on the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, which gathers “information … (and) facts about medical practices of abortion service providers and the business practices of the procurement organizations who sell baby body parts.”
Women who regret their abortions are sharing their testimonies. Kelly Lang, who is a part of Silent No More, a partner organization of 40 Days for Life United, spoke tearfully about how an abortion caused her life to unravel until one day she experienced what she described as God’s mercy and forgiveness, when she saw a vision of her unborn child playing at God’s feet and saying, “I forgive you, Mommy.” That vision, she said, also helped her to forgive her own mother who forced her to have the abortion.
But what about “tomorrow” for those who do not have dramatic testimony or sit on government committees? Bereit mentioned many things that anyone can do: pray publically or privately, say the rosary to end abortion, volunteer at a pregnancy center, donate money, get involved in parish life committees or the local 40 Days for Life campaign.
It is helpful, Laura Deer said, if people sign up on Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/40daysforlifenashville/?fref=ts so they have a better idea of how many will show up to pray across from the clinic.
Then there is the blue 40 Days for Live United tour bus, donated by an Indiana participant, which is a rolling witness of thousands of supporters of the pro-life movement. Everyone who attends is invited to write a message on the bus, and only 12 days into the tour, the lower portion of the bus was filled with messages such as “God loves life” and Scripture passages.