The 2018 fall 40 Days for Life campaign to end the injustice of abortion in our country recently concluded. Each year of this ecumenical commitment, something valuable arises.Typically, participants gather at the close of the 40 days of prayer and fasting to thank God for the fruits of the effort, and life itself. Though nothing formal took place this year, it seems right to take an account of the resulting good and give a nod to those who spent time standing vigil at the sidewalk of our state’s only abortion facility in Fargo.
Though some say prayer doesn’t work, that we’re wasting our breath and might as well go home, the facts don’t substantiate this poor advice.
As reported by the 40 Days for Life North Dakota Committee, during this recent effort alone, 466 babies were saved from abortion throughout the world; two of these confirmed in our own city. In this, we rejoice.
Additionally, since the movement’s 2007 inception, 15,000 babies have come into the world who were slated for abortion; 84 were our own.
But in fairness, since we’re talking about lives saved, those numbers can all be doubled. For when a woman abandons her abortion appointment, she spares her own life, too. As former South Dakota abortionist Patti Giebink has knowledgeably explained, “There are serious risks of having elective abortion. Some women never get over it…and I think in a woman’s heart she knows that it’s a unique human being. It’s not just a piece of tissue.”
Offsetting the abortion industry’s “shout your abortion” mantra, those who’ve lived through their own harrowing abortion experiences have begun sharing their life-affirming stories through www.shoutmystory.org.
Recently, a panel of post-abortive women revealed here in Fargo how abortion nearly destroyed them, if not for God’s merciful love. One shared how, before her abortion, the father of lies whispered, “It’s harmless,” and afterward, screamed, “It’s hopeless.”
This is the reality of abortion – and any sin, really – and what it does to a woman’s soul and psyche.
A few days after 40 Days ended, I met a dear young woman at our local abortion facility on abortion day, a year following her own abortion here. She held handwritten signs as a warning. “I have abortion PTSD. Save your child and yourself,” and, “I regret my abortion every day. Please don’t make the same mistake I did.”
The practice of killing our children cannot remain a sound, civil “choice” given what we know. There’s no excuse for snipping necks, puncturing hearts, and poisoning our children to death. Not to mention the aversion to the truth of what abortion does to women. This must end.
For those who missed the “Gosnell” movie addressing this issue, Holy Cross Catholic Church will host a public viewing and post-show discussion from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3, at West Acres Cinema, Fargo. For an advanced $6 ticket, call 701-282-7217.
[For the sake of having a repository for my newspaper columns and articles, I reprint them here, with permission, a week after their run date. The preceding ran in The Forum newspaper on Nov. 17, 2018.]
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