BIRMINGHAM, Sep. 25th, 2017 – Tuesday, September 26th, at 6:30 PM, a coalition of pro-life leaders and organizations within the Birmingham community will conduct the 40 Days for Life Fall Candlelight Kickoff – a vigil that will commence forty straight days of prayer, fasting, and public outreach.
This marks the nineteenth 40 Days for Life prayer campaign in the city, and will be held in front of Birmingham’s last abortion clinic, Planned Parenthood.
Ed Carrick, local coordinator for 40 Days for Life, says, “We’ve been holding these campaigns twice a year for nearly ten years now. During that time we’ve seen nearly 400 babies saved, which also means 400 mothers loved and supported. Women in difficult pregnancies need confidence and support. All Planned Parenthood offers them is bad care and abortion. As long as this dangerous place remains open, we’ll be here praying, fasting, and offering compassion and help to mothers and fathers.”
Planned Parenthood of Birmingham’s history certainly does not speak well of the facility. In 2010 the facility was put on a year-long probation for ignoring statutory rape cases; in 2012 a woman filed suit when Planned Parenthood failed to notify her of an ectopic pregnancy after performing an abortion; in 2014, employees were caught illegally selling abortion drugs out of the parking lot, which Planned Parenthood failed to report to the Department of Public Health for months.
More recently, an inspection from the Department of Public Health yielded a 17-page deficiency report which included alarming infractions like failing to sterilize medical instruments and no documentation of TB and Hepatitis B testing for employees.
Fr. Terry Gensemer, Director of CEC For Life and long-time participant in the 40 Days campaigns, says, “While we are praying for the children killed inside this facility, for the mothers and fathers, and even for the abortion workers, this year we are also ardently praying that the state will finally take action and shut this terrible place down. Birmingham is a great city with wonderful hospitals and a good medical school. Planned Parenthood repeatedly mars that reputation and endangers our citizens. Why does the Department of Health continue to license a place that has shown complete disregard for the life of its patients and the laws of our state?”
The Birmingham 40 Days campaign will join over 375 cities around the world and 100,000+ people. Since 2007, these campaigns have seen over 13,000 lives saved, 154 abortion workers quit, and 90 abortion clinics close for good.
The Fall Candlelight Kickoff begins Tuesday at 6:30 PM, on the sidewalk of Planned Parenthood (located at 1211 27th PL S). Local pro-life leaders and clergy include:
- Bishop Emeritus David Foley, Diocese of Birmingham
- Jill Copeland, 40 Days for Life National Headquarters
- Ed Carrick, 40 Days for Life Birmingham
- Father Bill Xenos, Church of the Reconciler CEC
- Natalie Brumfield, Bound4Life Birmingham
- Sarah Howell, Charismatic Episcopal Church For Life
- and worship leader Luke Jones, Christ the King Cathedral in Selma
For more information, please visit http://40daysforlife.com/local-campaigns/birmingham/.