Catholic Transcript Online

There are 85 parishes throughout the Archdiocese who are currently observing the 40 Days for Life campaign. They are joined by other Catholic groups and other Christian churches to pray and conduct vigils for life in our areas.

We have promoted the campaign for the last four years in the Archdiocese. We opened it this year with the celebration of Mass in the Cathedral of St. Joseph at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 28. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament followed, continuing until the 7:30 Mass on Thursday morning.

Msgr. David Q. Liptak, executive editor of The Catholic Transcript, gave a reflection on the sanctity of life at noon in the cathedral. Father Robert Rousseau, the director of Pro-Life Ministry in the archdiocese, conducted a prayer vigil outside of the Hartford GYN Center, an abortion clinic on Main Street in Hartford. This vigil officially marked the beginning of a daily vigil that will take place at the clinic through Nov. 6.

I am deeply grateful to Sister Suzanne Gross, F.S.E., coordinator of the Pro-Life Ministry in the archdiocese, and Mrs. Mary Lou Peters, assistant program coordinator, for all their work in organizing the campaign here. The pattern is similar throughout the parishes, with each one responsible for a 24-hour program. Every day is covered by at least one parish, for the 40 days.

The offering of Mass, prayer services, and peaceful vigils is vital. It is reassuring for the women and girls facing difficult decisions to know that there are people who care for them, and that assistance is available to them: financial, medical, counseling, education, etc. In the past three years, 43 babies have been saved during these campaigns.

The 40 Days for Life campaign has been a national effort, begun as the Coalition for Life in the 40 days between Sept. 1 and Oct. 10, 2004, and now has become international. More than 13,000 church congregations have participated, and reports indicate that 52 abortion workers have quit their jobs and walked away from the abortion industry. Some 16 abortion facilities completely shut down following 40 Days for Life campaigns. Mr. David Bereit is the national director of the campaign, which he began in 2007 along with Shawn and Marilisa Carney.

A book that has drawn much attention recently is unPlanned, written in 2010 by Abby Johnson. It is being hailed by some as the pro-life classic of the early 21st century. Abby describes it herself as her "journey from naive college girl to director of a Planned Parenthood clinic to advocate for families in crisis, including the unborn members of those families."

Abby describes her own abortion and then how she went on to avoid discussions of abortion. She worked, nonetheless, for eight years in a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic in Bryan, Texas. She wonders later why it had taken her so long to realize the wrong choices she had made. She claimed at one point to her supervisors that Planned Parenthood was nonprofit. As a response to her statement she was told, "Abby, nonprofit is a tax status, not a business status." Generating revenue was the goal. She had to improve their revenue as the priority. She had to get the abortion numbers up. She was stunned.

The decisive event came for her when she was asked to participate in an ultrasound-guided abortion, "that horrible, crushing, startling, eye-opening day." She saw the whole thing, "this perfect little body and how the baby tried to get away and then violently twisted, and I saw the body crumple, just crumple, the little spine first sucked away and . . ." She saw that this was not a medical procedure. It was death. Abby left Planned Parenthood.

Abby now counsels women and families facing decisions about the possibility of abortion. She discusses at length the options that are available and guides people to receive the help they need. unPlanned itself is highly valuable assistance.

It is worthy to note the tremendous difference that ultrasound imaging has been making in these matters. Our young people are most attuned to the technology. Every year at the pro-life gathering in Washington, D.C., on the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, the overwhelming numbers of participants are young people.

National polls are showing the effect. Gallup’s 2011 Values and Beliefs survey reports that 51 percent of Americans believe that abortion is "morally wrong," while 39 percent say it is "morally acceptable." Those reports are decidedly different from those of 15 to 20 years ago.

The bottom line should not be forgotten. For women and girls facing these trying situations, please know that the Catholic Church and the people in our agencies are here to provide many ways to help. October is Respect Life Month, but our assistance goes on for all the days and all the years.

Archbishop’s Annual Appeal 2011