Leader of 40 Days for Life criticizes abortion prayer effort

Apr 12, 2012 / 14:06 pm

A California clergy group linked to Planned Parenthood has organized a 40-day prayer campaign for abortion rights, drawing criticism from Shawn Carney, head of the successful 40 Days for Life campaign.

“They’re using prayer basically to pray for more abortions and pray that women will have abortions,” said Carney, who charged that the effort ignores the reality of abortion and the real needs of women.

The group's prayers “avoid the actual issue at hand: every single abortion ends the life of an innocent human being, made in the image and likeness of God,” he told CNA on April 11.

“We have to pray for things that are good. We have to pray for things that are going to give life, not take it away.”

The Humboldt County Clergy for Choice, a committee of Six Rivers Planned Parenthood in Eureka, Calif., organized a “40 Days of Prayer & Contemplation” event from March 18 to April 27 to support “women and reproductive justice.”

The event uses a “40 Days of Prayer” series from the Missouri-based pro-abortion rights group Faith Aloud. The pamphlet includes prayers for abortion providers and for medical students who want to perform abortions. It prays for an end to violence against women and against abortion providers.

It also prays for politicians who support “a woman’s right to make her own medical decisions.”

The pamphlet stresses the “dignity and autonomy of women” and prays that women who have had abortions may “stand tall and refuse shame.”

The first day of prayer says “we pray for women for whom pregnancy is not good news, that they know they have choices.” The Day 36 prayer reads “Today we pray for the families we’ve chosen. May they know the blessing of choice.”
 
“Today we give thanks and celebrate that abortion is still safe and legal,” the Day 40 entry says.

Carney said he thinks the pamphlet is inspired by the 40 Days for Life campaign, which recently ended its organized springtime effort of pro-life outreach. Participants reportedly helped save 804 babies and witnessed the conversion of several abortion clinic workers.

“Imitation is always the best form of flattery,” Carney said. “We’ve seen Planned Parenthood at different spots across the country try to mock the 40 Days for Life campaign in many ways. Usually they call it 40 Days of Harassment or 40 Days of Bigotry.”

He also saw the pamphlet as a reminder of the humanity of those who support and perform abortions.

“The abortion industry is full of people who have minds and hearts and souls,” Carney said. “That’s why we’ve seen 69 abortion workers have conversions and leave their jobs.”

He characterized the prayers as an effort to “rationalize abortion” that speaks in “vague terms.”

In Carney’s view, abortion opponents “look at the truth and the reality” of the procedures.

“There are a lot of sincere people who at one point supported abortion, for whatever reason, and are now in the pro-life movement,” he noted. “The pro-life movement is made up of people who used to support abortion, of women who have had abortions, of doctors and nurses who worked in the abortion industry.”

While opponents of the pro-life movement have characterized its participants as against choice, Carney contended that pro-life advocates like 40 Days for Life participants give women options they would not otherwise have.

“Without people out praying in front of these (abortion) facilities, there is no choice,” he said. “There really is no choice unless you have somebody who, despite the heat or cold or rain, is willing to go out and offer a last-minute helping hand.”

Nearly 6,000 women have chosen life for their babies with the help of the pro-life campaign.

“So many of them have told us they woke up that morning praying that God would send them a sign as they were going into the abortion facility,” Carney said.

Pro-life advocates “have been that sign.”

Carney also rejected the pamphlet’s insinuation that pro-life advocates shame women.

“The people out on the front lines are the last hope for the baby, but they’re also the first line of mercy.  There isn’t a follow-up appointment when you have an abortion. The abortion industry shames women themselves when they sell them an abortion and then they’re done with them.

“If you struggle emotionally, spiritually, physically, oftentimes after an abortion, they’re just not there to help.”

(Story continues below)

He stressed the desire of 40 Days for Life to help women.

“The pro-life movement isn’t there to shame anyone, it’s quite the opposite. The loneliest spot in our nation is where a woman walks from the abortion clinic to her car. It’s a basic obligation to be out there with her in her loneliness and offer help and offer support.”