Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for coming out to pray for the mothers, fathers, abortion workers, and misinformed public. Your prayers and witness made a difference. There were 2 lives saved that we know of.
The closing rally was held on Sunday, April 10, 2022, Palm Sunday. I want to especially thank Georgia Brown and the Falls Church Anglicans for planning and conducting this closing rally.
Reverend Neal Brown led us in prayer. Reverend Nicholas Lubelfeld, reminded us that Jesus was a baby and even shortly after his birth the Holy Innocents died for Jesus. He reminded us of the many scripture readings telling us that God knows and loves us from the moment of conception. We are not a clump of cells to Him but a person He loves.
Matt Britton, General Counsel from 40 Days for Life spoke about the horrendous numbers of abortions occurring every year worldwide. 56 million people die every year of disease, war and accidents. 56 million babies are aborted every year. He called men to be accountable and help the mothers of their children.
Maureen Barrett reported on the campaign. The first of two known saves was on Saturday March 5, Marco. A Hispanic man, Marco, came for the first time (after attending the Kickoff Rally) and spoke for a while with a Hispanic couple who were at Falls Church Healthcare Center (FCHC). Another sidewalk counselor gave them the Options brochure in Spanish. They left without getting an abortion.
On Friday, April 8, 2022, a couple parked out front of FCHC. Ken and a few other sidewalk counselors talked to the man and gave him a pamphlet. He did all the talking and insisted that they had already made the decision to abort. He eventually rolled up the window and a bit later he and his girlfriend walked up to the abortion mill. Only 5 minutes later they came out and told us that they had changed their minds. They seemed happy and thanked us.
We are there to help the public. We had multiple incidents of high school students asking us “Don’t you have better things to do with your life than standing out here?” It was an opportunity to tell the truth about abortion. They disagreed with us saying “It is just a bunch of cells. It is not a person.” We told them the truth and let God work from there. I believe that God has a plan. Hopefully if these students ever have an unplanned pregnancy, they will remember the people who had nothing better to do than save babies.
On Saturday, April 9, 2022, a counselor (Mike from St. Anthony) spoke with a Hispanic lady as she got out of the car. She said she was told there was no heartbeat and she was coming to the abortion mill for them to induce labor. He convinced her to go with him to Options to hopefully have a sonogram to confirm whether the baby was alive. Mike had to leave at 7:30 so Toni came and provided a warm car until the Options folks arrived. It turned out that Options couldn’t do the sonogram today, so Angela brought her to the emergency room at VHC in Arlington and waited 4 hours with her until she could be looked at. They confirmed that the baby had no heartbeat, but they wouldn’t be able to do a DNC until Monday. Please pray for her. She is in a lot of pain. Though her baby was dead, at least she never stepped foot in FCHC. They called her and was disappointed that she missed her appointment.
On Saturday, April 9, 2022, a man came to pick up a woman after she had her abortion. The man was a neighbor and was unaware of what “medical procedure” she was having. He did not support abortion. He thought he was just doing a favor for a neighbor. We have seen this a few times this year where the person driving the woman is ignorant of the actual procedure. Last fall we had a young man who came to talk to us after dropping off the woman. He was not the father, just a friend of the woman. He was visibly upset when he learned that his friend was going to have an abortion. He ran back into the building to try to talk her out of it. When he couldn’t he told her to find another ride home. He left.
As per usual, people didn’t sign up to pray but they showed up. I usually come on Tuesday afternoons. There was a group, including a priest, who came every week from St. Ambrose. On Saturday about 50 students from Christendom came. Holy Spirit church came every Friday. St. Raymond covered an entire Saturday. Each parish group took a time slot. It doesn’t matter to God if you sign up or not. What is important is showing up. I thank you for showing up. I also ask that you continue showing up after 40 Days for Life is over. Maybe just once a month. A picture of the Rally was posted on the 40daysforLife.org/fallschurch webpage.
Dates to Remember
Good Friday at noon- Stations of the Cross in front of FCHC
Holy Saturday at noon America Needs Fatima prayers in front of FCHC.
God Bless You
Maureen Barrett