40 Days for Life prepares for record campaign

The intentions of the Corpus Christi 40 Days for Life campaign is “to focus on the busiest days for abortion procedures when children our lost and mothers exploited,” local coordinator Patrick Hayes said.

During the 40 days, which begin Sept. 28 and run through Nov. 6, the campaign will hold a prayer vigil at the Coastal Birth Control Center, where abortions are performed in Corpus Christi. The abortion facility is located at the intersection of Morgan St. and the Crosstown Expressway.

“We will focus our attention on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings (10 days) when the most children are aborted and women are exploited,” Hayes said. “The most important time will be the hours of 8-10 a.m., but we will plan to be present and witness in prayer until 6 p.m. those days.”

According to Shawn Carney, 40 Days for Life national campaign director, 301 cities across seven countries are participating in “prayer and fasting for an end to abortion.”

“Tremendous momentum is on our side,” Carney said. “We’ve recently learned of the closure of two more abortion facilities where peaceful 40 Days for Life prayer vigils were conducted in the public right-of-way outside.

Carney said 16 abortion centers where peaceful 40 Days for Life prayer vigils have taken place have closed following these campaigns of prayer and fasting. In addition, 53 abortion industry employees have left their jobs at facilities where people prayed for an end to abortion during 40 Days for Life campaigns.

Carney added that peaceful prayer outside the abortion center "provides a simple reminder -- to clients, to staff, to the community -- of what all people know in their hearts: abortion is wrong and can never be justified. I am confident that the abortion culture will continue to be overcome by the power of prayer."

In four years, 40 Days for Life has mobilized more than 400,000 people in 387 cities, saving 4,313 lives from abortion, Carney said. The 40 Days for Life campaign involves people of faith in 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion, round-the-clock peaceful vigils outside abortion facilities and grassroots educational outreach.

Hayes also extended an invitation to the Pro-Life Forum held every second Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. at St. Thomas More Parish. Speakers on one particular activity in Pro-Life work locally will tell participants how to foster communication, awareness and greater participation in transforming our culture to one of the Gospel of Life, Hayes said.