40-day vigil works to save babies and families from abortion

Anchorage, Alaska (Catholic Anchor) - Each fall, for the past four years, thousands have gathered outside abortion clinics across the country to peacefully pray for unborn babies and to help mothers choose life. The national campaign, called "40 Days for Life," is currently taking place in 212 communities, including Anchorage, along busy Lake Otis Parkway, where two clinics perform abortions.

The abortion industry's impact on unborn babies is plain. In the United States, since 1973, more than 50 million unborn babies have been destroyed surgically with suction, forceps or scissors -- and chemically, with cocktails of powerful hormones.

But often overlooked, say pro-life advocates, is abortion's impact on mothers. That includes links to increased rates of breast cancer, infertility and psychiatric problems.

'Women deserve better than abortion'

That is one of the reasons Nikole Hill is involved in the 40 Days for Life prayer campaign in Anchorage.

"Women deserve better than abortion," said the 22 year-old Catholic spokesperson for the interdenominational Christian campaign in Anchorage.

"I wanted to be involved because it's so horrible to me that women are being told that abortion is the best choice for them," she told the Anchor.

"When you talk to these women and you see them, you really realize that in most cases, they don't want to make this decision. It's someone else, whether it's their boyfriend or husband or girlfriend who's coming with them saying, 'This is the best choice for you.' It's really not."

According to state records, 1,759 abortions occurred in Alaska last year. Many took place in Anchorage at Alaska Women's Health, P.C. and at an affiliate of Planned Parenthood, the country's largest abortion provider.

Abortion - which is legal in the U.S. through all nine months of pregnancy and for virtually any reason - is a big business. Nationally, Planned Parenthood brings in $1 billion annually.

40 Days for Life

In the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil, participants gather near abortion clinics across the country and pray and fast for the end to abortion. The goal is to have at least two people praying outside the abortion clinic -- in hour intervals -- 24 hours a day for 40 days.

While they pray, some participants hold signs with positive messages, such as "Pray to end abortion" and "Life is beautiful."

Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz has encouraged Catholics to participate in the vigil, which he called a "program of Christian witness." And Holy Family Cathedral Dominicans Father Vincent Kelber and Brother Dominic David Maichrowicz helped lead the Sept. 23 opening prayer rally in Anchorage, which more than 130 people attended.

Photo by Patricia Coll Freeman Volunteer Nikole Hill prays Oct. 9 and display signs outside a clinic that performs abortions on Lake Otis in Anchorage. The volunteer effort is part of a national campaign called 40 Days for Life.Over the past four campaigns, national organizers have reported that more than 70,000 people prayed near abortion clinics across the nation. Participants range widely in age, but the Anchorage organizers are young women in their 20s and 30s.

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According to Hill, the volunteers pray that abortion practitioners and their assistants "have a change of heart." They pray for mothers being pressured to abort and the babies who are marked for abortion. They pray for fathers and grandparents - because "they're losing a member of their family." And they also pray that "laws will be enacted to protect and respect the sanctity of life from conception until natural death," Hill explained.

Forty Days for Life Anchorage organizer and Protestant Christian Christine Kurka, age 27, added that, also, "we're praying...to be changed ourselves, so that more and more, we are people in a society that is welcoming to life -- whether it's an unexpected pregnancy or even on the other end of the spectrum where we have a terminally ill father or mother or grandparents."

Participants in 40 Days for Life sign a "Statement of Peace," in which they commit to "show compassion and reflect Christ's love to all," including the abortion facility customers and employees. They also agree to obey the law and cooperate with local authorities. In Anchorage, participants stay on the public sidewalk along Lake Otis. If the abortion clinic clients approach them and engage in conversation, volunteers are ready to talk.

Kurka said that the group plans to offer training in "sidewalk counseling," so that counselors are better equipped to help the abortion-minded find life-affirming options.

Some volunteers are interested in learning "how to speak that kindness and love of Christ and to have a conversation beyond the silent prayer," Kurka said.

As far as their safety during the vigil, said Hill, "we've all been praying for our own protection."

But Kurka is not aware of any volunteers who have backed out, fearing danger in the wake of the September shooting of a peaceful, pro-life activist in Michigan.

"There's a little bit of nervousness, because it's different to go out in public to pray," she said. "But there's a reason -- because we have a business in public that's legally killing children."

Overcoming apathy

One of the greatest difficulties for Kurka is "the apathy we encounter among some believers in our city," though she was quick to add that "at the same time, it's exciting to see those who are being awakened to truly care about people in our community."

Some commit to pray an hour at the abortion clinic before work, while the homebound pray or fast from a distance. Others join the vigil for a few minutes.

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Megan Walsted, 28 year-old parishioner of St. Benedict Church in Anchorage, was inspired to join the prayer campaign by her unborn daughter Sophia, who recently died in the womb. Walsted required a surgical procedure to deliver her dead baby, and in the middle of her anguish, she realized that "some women choose to have this procedure because they don't want their babies."

"I knew I could no longer just try to vote for the most pro-life politician. It was time for me to jump into the trenches and take action," she said.

Saving babies

In its four years, 40 Days for Life reports that 1,561 babies are known to have been saved. Eighteen abortion workers -- including one in Anchorage -- have quit their jobs in the abortion industry and three abortion facilities closed after the campaigns.

As of day 21 in this year's vigil, 236 babies are reported to have been saved, nationwide, although there are none were confirmed in Anchorage yet.

But Hill said it's hard to know whether "you've save a life or not."

"Who knows if a woman driving by saw us praying there, praying for her baby and praying for her, and she realized, 'I can't do this'" but never comes forward, she said.

Kurka said that in the first week of the vigil in Anchorage, one young woman, visibly pregnant, stopped and told a volunteer that earlier, she had been pressured to abort but didn't. She picked up a sign and joined the prayers.

For more information about the local 40 Days for Life prayer vigil, visit 40daysforlife.com.

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Republished by Catholic Online with permission of the Catholic Anchor (www.catholicanchor.org), official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska.