40 Days For Life wants to stop baby killin’. An admirable goal, except when it comes at the expense of a woman’s right to choose when, how and with whom she wants to bring a child into this world.
The campaign was started in 2004 by Shawn Carney and David Bereit—I’m not going to get into the ludicrousness of an anti–woman’s-right-to-choose campaign being led by two men—to stop abortion through peaceful means. The 40-day time frame was determined due to the significance of that particular integer in the Bible, and so far the crusade has spread to over 13 countries across the world, and through every one of the 50 states—422 cities in all.
Now 40 Days For Life has come to Oregon, and they will be parked in front of Portland’s MLK Planned Parenthood clinic from Feb. 22 to April 1, seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Students, if this is your local clinic, don’t shy away. While the group is protesting abortion, at least their efforts are being channeled through prayer, fasting, and peaceful vigil—emphasis on the silent nature of the judgment process.
Therese Ruesink, a leader of the local Portland campaign, is focused on peace. “We have to take a peaceful pledge before we sign up, which says that we’re not going to shout at anyone,” Ruesink said. “We strive to be all about peace, because if we can’t be peaceful—if there can’t be peace in the womb—we’re not doing our job, which is to peacefully fast and pray for an end to abortion.”
This separates the group from so-called “rabid” right-to-lifers, such as the ones that shoot abortion-qualified physicians in churches. However, the peaceful front is undercut by some of the fanatical claims on their website.
The 40 Days For Life campaign touts that the use of prayer can “document 5,045 lives that have been spared from abortion—and those are just the ones we know about.”
It doesn’t seem that far-fetched to me that abortion rates would go down when already fragile, scared women are being greeted at the door with shame tactics and prayer-by-condescension. I certainly wouldn’t want to walk through a prayer-tunnel. So is prayer really what’s affecting this number? Intimidation seems more accurate.
“I’ve used services at Planned Parenthood before and I’ve gone in there and I have been harassed by protestors before, and it makes me very uncomfortable,” said fourth-year math and sociology major Gabby Choonoo. “I already feel slightly uncomfortable going to Planned Parenthood—not because I’m embarrassed to go, but…there are certain things that you don’t want people to judge you for. And here these people are right out front, telling me what I’m doing is wrong. And it’s very hurtful.”
Vocal performance sophomore Erica Shafer thinks they’re focusing on the wrong place. “I think it’s courageous that they’re out there, but I think it’s silly,” Shafer said. “Planned Parenthood is there to educate.”
The sister site of 40 Days, preciouschildrenofportland.org, thinks otherwise. Because the Planned Parenthood on MLK provides abortion services, the site asks, “As the number of children are drastically decreasing in Portland and schools are closing, why is Planned Parenthood so intent on doing more abortions in Northeast Portland?” This suggests that because they provide a service, Planned Parenthood wants to perform more abortions, and is a twisting of the truth.
It seems that the majority of the campaign’s “facts” are being tailored to fit their cause.
A Planned Parenthood representative refused to comment on this issue to avoid lending any validity to the 40 Days campaign, but the services and education they provide, often free of charge, speaks for itself: birth control, HIV testing, men’s and women’s healthcare, STD testing, treatment and vaccines, emergency contraception, pregnancy testing, and yes, abortion services.
Planned Parenthood is a resource for people to use (or not use) at their own discretion. If you don’t believe in abortion, don’t get one—and leave those who do alone.
Please understand that those who are pro life, especially those who are brave enough to stand outside an abortion clinic and be yelled at by angry people, are not the enemy. Many women disagree with the biased and hostile bashing of not only Christians but those who value the dignity of women, children, marriage and family.
Those who stand outside abortion clinics are not there to judge anyone! That is the greatest misperception. The sad reality is that many of those who stand out there, despite the weather, despite the hostility of many who pass by, have experienced deep grief over the choice to abort their own children, both men and women.
Many who stand out there are simply there to offer a choice to those who enter. They wish someone had done that for them. They wish that when they were young, alone, afraid and vulnerable they hadn’t made such a life altering decision that not only affected them but their child. They wish someone would have told them they were strong enough to handle this challenge.
“Pro lifers” offer many resources that are all based on charity and hope: pregnancy services (free), prenatal and postnatal care (free), grief counseling, resources to get away from abusive relationships. The list goes on and on. We offer everything but the “out” that is given by death of a child. You can find some of these resources on the Portland 40 days for life website under the “get involved” section. http://www.40daysforlife.com/portland/
There are also many women who have found healing after abortion with outreach services such as Rachel’s Vineyard. http://rachelsvineyard.org/
You ended your article with a cliche statement of “if you don’t like abortion, don’t have one.” Cliches often lack depth and truth. If you don’t like stealing, don’t steal. If you don’t like drugs, don’t do drugs. It’s not that simple. Actions that hurt people are wrong for a reason and we, as a society need to protect those that can be hurt by wrongs. That’s why we have laws. Some laws are wrong. For many years it was legal to own slaves. For many years it was law that African Americans were only 3/4 human. We need to reevaluate how we value life…that of the born and the unborn!