A busy week

I've been too busy to do much blogging, but I wanted to keep you up to date on the progress of the fall 2010 40 Days for Life campaign I've been involved with. Of course, the 40 Days web site has a daily blog that gives summaries of some of the highlights of each day, but with so many places participating they can't list everything. I can speak about the places I have been.

Last week I spent some time talking to the other members about how thins were going. According to the coordinator, this has been a bad fall, with fewer than normal people turning up [N.B. there were 6 people there when I was, which is "normal" for the times I usually go - I try to pick times when they have fewer people signed up]. The reason, he thinks, is that most of the churches (both Catholic and Protestant) at which he would normally announce the event refused to let him speak this fall! He is at a loss to explain why, and so am I, but I think I can posit a guess. There has been a lot in the media about abortion being an issue in the 2010 elections, and I think many pastors fear that they will be seen as taking sides in a political race. Now, of course that's completely backwards thinking, but that's the best reason I can guess. Anyone who has a better idea, I'd love to hear it.

Despite the lower than normal turnout, the campaign has been successful. Last week quite a few hearts and minds were changed. On Saturday alone, four women approached the 40 days members and told them they had changed their minds and canceled their abortions. Hopefully there were many more who didn't stop to say thanks.

This week I witnessed a young man who was trying to convince his woman (not sure if it was a girlfriend or wife) not to go through with the abortion. I don't know the outcome, but I pray she had a change of heart. Another couple at the clinic was arguing animatedly, although from a distance we couldn't tell who wanted the abortion and who didn't. They did leave without having one, which was a good sign.

It angers me when people talk about a woman's "free choice" to have an abortion. Perhaps there are such people, but none of the women I've seen at these places seemed to think she had a choice. Women go these because they are choiceless. They see no other way to "solve" what they perceive as a "problem". If only they could understand that abortion doesn't "solve" anything, and that what is inside them is a human being who loves them, not the cause of whatever problems they face.

Posted in: 40 Days for Life,abortion,My life