The annual spring 40-Days for Life prayer vigil, which was under way in more than 500 cities around the world was suspended on Sunday due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus.

Each spring and fall, pro-life advocates from across the globe gather outside Planned Parenthood clinics to pray for an end to abortion. Alaskans were gathering outside Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in Anchorage and Soldotna.

“This was the toughest decision I’ve made serving as President & CEO of this lifesaving movement, but I feel it is the right one,” 40-Days for Life President Shawn Carney said on the group’s website. “Since we did the first campaign back in 2004, I have visited over 530 vigil locations, and the safety of your family during a campaign is and will always be my number one priority.”

For the remainder of the campaign the group will “will unite in prayer, fasting, and spiritual union to pray for an end to abortion and this pandemic.”

“The Coronavirus is a cross in our lives and the world right now,” Carney said. “We all can’t help but feel involved as we adjust our own lives and unite with those health workers on the front lines, government leaders, medical professionals, and those families who are sick or have lost loved ones. We are all involved, and I pray this cross does not go without drawing my family, your family, and our broken world closer to Jesus Christ. For He can’t help but bring good out of this if we stay close to Him during this difficult time.”