Last Saturday, over 200 Alabama citizens gathered in front of Planned Parenthood Birmingham for the 2023 Birmingham March for Life Prayer Vigil. For the last three years, this prayer event has been offered in lieu of the typical march and it continues to receive a great response from the pro-life community.
CEC For Life was excited to once again co-host the Vigil with Birmingham March for Life and United for Life. Many other wonderful organizations were also represented through our lineup of incredible speakers: Attorney Eric Johnston (author of Alabama’s Human Life Protection Act), John Guiles of Choose Life Alabama, Joy Pinto of Her Choice Women’s Center and Cindy Harless of Abortion Recovery Alabama. Each speaker represented a crucial part of our pro-life community, from life-saving legislation to post-abortive healing.
Sarah Neely of CEC for Life and long-time life advocate Jim Pinto emceed the event. And, though no one spoke from Life on Wheels, the ministry brought the mobile ultrasound unit right to the sidewalk, giving citizens a chance to tour the bus directly after.
We kicked off with a time of worship led by Matt Brumfield of Bound4Life Birmingham and, after hearing from all the speakers, attendees also got the chance to hear the heartbeat of a six week old baby in the womb pouring through the sound system — a reminder of what states with six week bans like Georgia are fighting to protect, and what the abortion industry is willing to destroy.
Next, a time of solemn prayer as Pastor Chris Peters of Cross Creek Church and Pastor Justin Wallick of Christ Church Branch Cove led attendees through a special Litany for the Preborn, offering prayers for every aspect of our world that abortion works to destroy. Afterwards, several attendees helped ring Sanctus bells 64 times representing the more than 64 million children killed by abortion in our nation since 1973.
Though abortion is banned in Alabama, preborn children all over the nation are still without the basic right to life and we, the church, cannot abandon them —even if our own state is abortion-free. While the Vigil celebrated the overturn of Roe and the Alabama Human Life Protection Act finally going into effect, it also reminded every attendee that this battle is far from over in our nation.
Even in a state with abortion banned at every stage, the pregnant women who find themselves in difficult circumstances are still with us, and they still need our help.
Citizens gathered to celebrate and stand in unity this weekend, but we also gathered to recognize that there are still many areas in Alabama where we must build up an even stronger culture of life, both with life-affirming legislation and resources for families facing an unexpected pregnancy.
Now is not the time for less pro-life ministry in Alabama, it’s the time for more, and it was an absolute blessing to see so many out on the sidewalk that day ready to push onward —prayerfully, peacefully, and legally — until every life at every stage is protected.
