Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The latest 40 Days for Life campaign has ended, but many pro-life advocates say they are so encouraged by their involvement that they want to continue. Shawn Carney, 40 Days for Life's spring campaign director, tells Lifenews.com that it has resulted in closing abortion centers.
He said, "If there's a main theme I'm hearing from the tens of thousands of participants around the country at the completion of this spring's 40 Days for Life campaign, it's 'We don't want to stop!'"
"People have witnessed first-hand that a prayerful presence outside abortion facilities saves lives, and they know they will see additional results by continuing their vigils," Carney added.
From February 25 to April 5, some 135 cities in the United States, Canada, Australia and Northern Ireland joined together for the 40 Days for Life campaign. The effort featured 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion, constant vigil outside abortion centers, and extensive community outreach.
"Courageous people stood and prayed in rain, cold weather and snowstorms," Carney told LifeNews.com.
Carney said the reaction from abortion advocates, including staff at abortion businesses, was typically negative and often accusatory in nature.
"Abortion workers tried to smear this effort with accusations that 40 Days for Life volunteers' prayers 'intimidated' their clients. But none of this could dissuade peaceful, determined people who know their efforts touch hearts and impact communities," he said.
During this campaign, 40 Days for Life received reports of 389 babies whose lives were saved from abortion.
"There are undoubtedly others that we don't know about as well we're aware that many appointments were canceled when several clinics closed unexpectedly on days when abortions are normally scheduled," Carney explained.
Abortion centers in Austin, Texas and Kalispell, Montana either cut back hours or closed for entire days during the campaign. In other cities, the number of women seeking abortions declined sharply.
This time, the 40 Days campaign also included an effort to help women who are suffering from past abortions.
A combined effort with the Silent No More Awareness Campaign resulted in countless men and women with abortion experiences coming forward to pray at abortion centers and warn women about the physical, emotional and spiritual damage they risk by going through with an abortion.
This was the fourth coordinated, simultaneous 40 Days for Life campaign in the last 20 months.
Combined, those campaign resulted in 466 local efforts in 240 separate cities in all 50 states plus seven other nations. More than 200,000 people have participated and more than 4,000 churches have been involved, and at least 1,517 babies were spared from abortion.
In total, 17 employees of abortion centers quit their jobs and three abortion centers closed as a result of the efforts.
Related web sites:
40 Days for Life - http://www.40DaysForLife.com
