ACTION ALERT
On Saturday, September 12, 2015, Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, Priests for Life and the Pro-Life Action League will co-sponsor the third annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children, calling on pro-life Americans to honor the gravesites of our aborted brothers and sisters.
Solemn prayer vigils will be conducted at these gravesites, of which there are 47 across the United States, as well as at dozens of other sites dedicated in memory of aborted children.
Why Visit the Gravesites of the Aborted Unborn?
When people become truly aware of the reality of abortion, they can more easily cut through the lies by which some try to justify it, and the natural apathy to which human nature is inclined. Even pro-life people are thrust into a higher level of commitment and activism.
Touching this reality happens in various ways: hearing a vivid description of the procedure, seeing diagrams of it or images of aborted children, hearing a woman's personal testimony of regret over her abortion.
This impact, whereby abortion no longer remains an abstraction, can be brought to an even more profound level when experienced during an event, such as the funeral for an aborted baby.
Tens of thousands of these children have been retrieved and buried at gravesites across our country. The stories of how they were killed, how they were found, and how they were buried, along with the pictures and videos that document those events, are powerful tools to awaken the consciences of our fellow citizens.
But while a funeral and burial for an aborted baby may be a relatively rare event, the opportunity to visit the burial places and recall how those children got there does not have to be rare—in fact, it shouldn't be.
Pro-lifers should be visiting these gravesites—and other memorial sites dedicated to aborted babies—as a regular part of their pro-life witness. That's what the National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children is all about.
An Annual Event—and More
The first National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children was held in September 2013 on the 25th anniversay of the solemn burial of the earthly remains of some 1,500 abortion victims in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Over 100 memorial services were held across the United States, and it was clear this should become an annual event.
The Day of Remembrance will be held annually on the second Saturday in September. Dates for upcoming Days of Remembrance are as follows:
- September 12, 2015
- September 10, 2016
- September 9, 2017
- September 8, 2018
Pictures and videos from past Day of Remembrance memorial services can be found on the National Day of Remembrance Facebook page.
Pro-lifers are also encouraged to carry on the spiritual mission of the Day of Remembrance througout the year by visiting a gravesite of aborted children or other memorial site to offer prayers of mourning for the victims of abortion. Find the site nearest you here.
During your visit, you may wish to pray one of the following prayers prepared for the National Day of Remembrance:
- Prayer at a Gravesite or Memorial Site [PDF]
- Prayer or Mourning for Victims of Abortion [PDF]
- Prayer for Those who Have Lost a Child to Abortion [PDF]
By participating in the National Day of Remembrance, visiting these solemn memorial places at other times of the year, and spreading the word about this prayer campaign, you are helping to humanize our aborted brothers and sisters and deepening your own commitment to ending the injustice of abortion.