LIFE DIGEST: More than 400 babies saved, 40 Days reports
- Oct 27, 2009 - comment
More than 400 unborn children have been saved from abortion during this fall’s 40 Days for Life campaign, the head of the pro-life initiative reported Oct. 26.
David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for Life, said in his daily email report 411 babies have been spared since the latest campaign began Sept. 23. The initiative, which became a national movement two years ago, reported 1,561 children saved from abortion in four previous campaigns.
Also in this edition: Baltimore City Council targets pregnancy centers and Brits: Womb transplants in 2 years possible.
The 40 Days for Life effort involves peaceful prayer vigils outside abortion clinics and Planned Parenthood offices, as well as fasting for the end of abortion. The latest campaign is expected to involve tens of thousands of people in 212 cities in the United States, Canada and Denmark by the time it concludes Nov. 1.
In his Oct. 26 report, Bereit included the following reports from 40 Days volunteers:
In Dallas, a woman entered an abortion clinic “and left 30 minutes later, telling people on the sidewalk she was scared, and that the conditions in the clinic were troublesome. She was invited to go instead to the very clean clinic across the street—the pro-life pregnancy resource center. She found that help was indeed available, and chose life for her child.”
In Atlanta, a mother went to pray at a vigil “with her 7- and 10-year-old daughters. At the time, they were the only ones at the clinic. But after Paige explained to her girls why they were there, they all began to pray and sing.”
“When a woman got out of her car and walked towards the clinic, one of the girls said, ‘Let’s sing “Jesus Loves Me.”’
“‘They sounded so sweet,’ Paige said. ‘I know the lady could hear them.’
“A bit later, a man pulled up and got out of his car to talk. ‘He was very noticeably angry,’ said Paige, and he wound up making a threatening remark before driving off.
“‘I told the girls what Jesus said, “Blessed are you when they persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you, because of me.” But it was hard staying there.’
“It’s a good thing they stayed! The woman that the girls had sung for earlier in the hour walked out of the clinic and towards the parking lot—all the time, looking at a sign with the number of a pro-life pregnancy counseling hotline. She picked up her cell phone and made a call.
“As she pulled out of the parking lot, the woman made a point of looking right at them, giving thumbs-up and shaking her head in an emphatic ‘yes.’ She was smiling at them, though it looked like she had been crying.
“‘The girls were thrilled,’ said Paige. ‘We really have no idea of the good that may come of people standing outside of clinics.’”
Information on the initiative and the locations of the prayer vigils may be found online at www.40daysforlife.com.
Baltimore City Council targets pregnancy centers
Most of the members of the Baltimore (Md.) City Council are promoting a measure that would require pregnancy help centers to post a sign saying they do not provide abortions or contraceptives.
Baltimore’s Roman Catholic archbishop criticized the bill as a form of harassment.
Stephanie Rawlings-Burke, the City council president, and 10 other council members are sponsors of legislation that would levy a fine of $500 a day for any pregnancy center that does not abide by the requirement, according to The Catholic Review, the newspaper of Baltimore’s Catholic archdiocese. Including the president, the council has 15 members.
Archbishop Edwin O’Brien told Rawlings-Burke in an Oct. 16 letter the proposal discriminates against pro-life centers.
“The bill does not on the other hand seek to fine abortion clinics for not posting a list of services they do not provide (e.g., parenting classes, maternity and infant clothes, formula),” he wrote.
The measure is similar to one backed by Planned Parenthood last year in the Maryland legislature, The Catholic Review reported. Planned Parenthood, which is the country’s No. 1 abortion provider, also is promoting the Baltimore bill, said Nancy Paltell of the Maryland Catholic Conference’s respect life office.
“We are providing community services that the city doesn’t provide and now they’re going to harass us for it,” Paltell said, according to the newspaper. “We’re saving the city money, but does the city give one dime to these pregnancy centers? No.”
Brits: Womb transplants in 2 years possible
Some British scientists have predicted a human womb transplant could occur in the next two years.
The researchers made the forecast after experiments at the Royal Veterinary College in London resulted in two rabbits living with successfully transplanted wombs for 10 months, according to the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) News. Scientists had transplanted wombs in five rabbits, connecting major blood vessels in the process.
Researchers next plan to impregnate rabbits with transplanted wombs by means of in vitro fertilization (IVF), the BBC reported. The same method would then be tried on larger animals.
They hope eventually to provide an option to surrogacy or adoption for women with damaged wombs.
Skepticism was expressed about the effort, however.
“I think there is a big difference between demonstrating effectiveness in a rabbit and being able to do this in a larger animal or a human . . . ” said Tony Rutherford, chairman of the British Fertility Society, according to the BBC.