In a Still-Challenging Abortion Landscape, Advocates Urge Continued Strong Dedication to Prayer

When she saw a young woman going into the parking lot of Planned Parenthood, Connie Lindsay urgently asked for reinforcements. "We called in every guardian angel in the area saying 'Go to her! Go to her!'" she recalled.

As part of the 40 Days for Life campaign of prayer to end abortion, Lindsay had joined fellow parishioners from St. Helen's Church in Pearland outside the Planned Parenthood headquarters in Houston, praying. They prayed for expectant mothers, for children in danger of being aborted, and for those involved in the abortion industry.

As many of the court fights, the sometimes-angry protests, as well as the news headlines, over abortion have died down, advocates say those prayers continue to be a vital part of an ongoing effort to promote and protect human life, as they have been for decades.

"When we go to Planned Parenthood, we pray the Rosary," explained Lark Maresh of the Respect Life Committee at Sacred Heart Church in Richmond." We pray the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy, and we pray a litany for life. Prayer is very powerful."

Powerful, and more vital than ever in today's changing environment, declared Florentina Nunez, Programs Director at the Houston Coalition for Life.

"It is a spiritual battle," she explained, "We know it's not over. We wish it was. Abortion is still happening. We cannot let our guard down. This is not going to be conquered without prayer."

Nunez cautions against complacency in that spiritual battle. In terms of law, most abortions became illegal in Texas under the state's Human Life Protection Act and the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson decision which let states regulate abortion in 2022. Since then, advocates lament that the number of people who come out to pray has dwindled.

"Since the Dobbs decision, it has been more difficult to get people to come," said Colleen Akers, as she prayed on the sidewalk outside Planned Parenthood with fellow parishioners from St. Michael the Archangel in Houston. "They don't realize there is still a problem. They don't realize that Planned Parenthood is still transporting people out of state for abortions and making arrangements. They don't realize Planned Parenthood is instructing women on how to find abortion pills to have mailed to them."

A stark example of what hasn't changed came in mid-March when state prosecutors announced the shutdown of several Houston area clinics as well as the arrests of two people for providing illegal abortions, this almost three years after abortions were banned in Texas.

"We pray because we need not just a ban on abortion," said Akers. "We also need a change of heart and a change of spirit to accept the gift of life that our Creator gave us."

And, while abortions are no longer provided at Planned Parenthood's headquarters in Houston, the Houston Coalition for Life still provides testing, counseling, and free ultrasounds right across the street in the Coalition's mobile pregnancy center bus known as "Big Blue," which has been parked there, six days a week, since 2011.

The bus is often a source of joy for those praying on the sidewalk, at times when an expectant mother goes into Planned Parenthood, then visits Big Blue, or goes straight to the bus instead of Planned Parenthood.

"We know there is joy in heaven when this happens," said Nunez. "That's a great reward from God."

The young woman Connie Lindsay prayed for did just that and went into the bus to talk with counselors. "It's beautiful," Lindsay exclaimed. "It's a beautiful thing."

"It is absolutely hopeful," echoed Rhonda Stryk from St. Helens in Pearland who has come for years to pray during 40 Days for Life. This year she came with her husband, her daughter and her two granddaughters. "I've seen women exit from Planned Parenthood, and then go to the bus," she said, "And we pray that that makes a change in their decision. I see that and I feel it's satisfying, that this is worth it."

In this post Dobbs world, Maresh declares the simple presence of the prayer vigils is now doubly urgent because an expectant mother may be more willing to listen when she's merely consulting at Planned Parenthood, rather than later, after she has traveled hundreds of miles to another state, or received an abortion pill, which she may take with no medical care.

by Charles Molineaux