Monthly Archives: September 2018

You don’t need me to tell you the mainstream media isn’t pro-life.

From the blackout on coverage of the annual March for Life, to the refusal to cover the trial of abortionist and serial killer Kermit Gosnell, to the filth peddled by Hollywood, the mass media has proven to be a major ally to the abortion industry.

That’s why Joe in Los Angeles is making community outreach a major focus of his campaign. “Because of our location, the people who work in media have to drive by.”

That means employees and executives from movie studios, major newspapers, video game companies, Google, Netflix, and more. The Los Angeles 40 Days for Life vigil is uniquely positioned to touch the consciences of some of the world’s most influential opinion-makers.

In fact, Joe and his team regularly encounter an Emmy-nominated actress, who sharply criticized their presence at the abortion facility on Santa Monica Boulevard.

Joe told the actress that he enjoys her work before explaining his public witness. That helped change the tone of their conversations. “I believe that we have earned her respect,” he said.

Speaking of Los Angeles, Campaign Director Steve Karlen recently visited kickoff events at 40 Days for Life vigils across Southern California. Here’s his report from the road:

West Covina, California

Campaign leader Yvonne said the property housing West Covina’s FPA abortion facility was recently purchased by the hospital next door. That’s why the West Covina team will be praying and doing outreach in front of the hospital.

I told volunteers that when their presence dissuades patients from seeking care at a hospital involved in taking the lives of children, financial pressure will become a powerful incentive to cut ties with the abortion industry.

I also had the opportunity to meet the now eight-year-old boy who Yvonne helped save from a late-term abortion at her 40 Days for Life vigil nearly a decade ago. Sebastian is Yvonne’s godson…and he has a sister on the way!

Riverside, California

Dozens of Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians joined the kickoff rally in front of Planned Parenthood in Riverside.

Maggie is leading her first 40 Days for Life campaign. Having written on the topic of the dignity of women, she increasingly developed an understanding that human dignity begins in the womb. Maggie said she decided to lead the campaign because, at the end of her life, she didn’t want God to ask her what she did to protect pre-born children…and come up empty-handed.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

—Matthew 6:25-26

Loving heavenly Father, help us to see the worth of all human beings by the way in which you provide for us. We would ask that you provide also the faith, grace and courage to enable us to protect that which is so precious to you.

See today’s full devotional

Shawn Carney

President/CEO, 40 Days for Life

Here we go!

40 Days for Life starts TODAY in a record 415 cities…

…and we already have our first report of an abortion worker converting and leaving her job! (More on this in a moment.)

But first, a mother in your community might be scheduling an abortion as you read this message. Thankfully, you’re not helpless.

We can pray, we can fast, and we can stand vigil. Find the closest vigil location at:

https://40daysforlife.com/browse-campaigns/

Former abortion workers report that when there is someone praying in front of an abortion facility, the “no-show” rate for abortion appointments can go to as high as 75 percent!

It’s always easy to make an excuse not to go out and pray at your local vigil. We counted down the five worst excuses to not pray at your local 40 Days for Life vigil on this episode of the 40 Days for Life Podcast.

Former Abortion Worker #178

Volunteers at one 40 Days for Life location didn’t make any excuses to stay home from their local vigil. In fact, they decided to hit the sidewalk a week and a half before the campaign began.

Their efforts paid off.

“Found out this past Saturday that an abortion worker just quit!” said Andrea, who participates in a 40 Days for Life campaign in the eastern United States. (We don’t reveal the locations of workers who leave their jobs to protect them from reprisals from their former employers.)

That makes 178 abortion workers to leave their jobs since the first nationally coordinated 40 Days for Life campaign launched in 2007.

“PRAISE GOD,” Andrea continued. “Our prayers are having an effect!”

Downers Grove, Illinois

A year ago, 40 Days for Life campaign participants in Downers Grove, Illinois encountered a group of rowdy protesters who sought to discourage them as they prayed for abortion-bound mothers and babies in their community.

The protesters created such a circus that even abortion supporters asked them to leave. As is typically the case, the effort to protest peaceful prayer fizzed.

But the 40 Days for Life team presses forward. The Downers Grove kickoff event filled the public right-of-way and featured words from a local priest, the executive director of Illinois Right to Life, and a pro-life musician.

Blow the trumpet in Zion! Proclaim a fast, call an assembly. Gather the people, notify the congregation. Assemble the elders; gather the children and the infants at the breast … Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, “Spare, O Lord, your people.”

—Joel 2:15-17

Lord, we ask for the strength, courage, wisdom, determination and stamina to carry out this mission according to Your will. Guide us, we pray, as we go forth and proclaim Your truth.

See today’s full devotional

Here again is the link to find your closest 40 Days for Life vigil:

https://40daysforlife.com/browse-campaigns/

For life,

Shawn Carney
President/CEO, 40 Days for Life