Fresh off Anchorage’s first pro-life march last month, advocates for the unborn are now gathering outside the state’s largest abortion mill for another 40 days of prayer and public witness for the city’s most vulnerable and voiceless.

From Feb. 14 to March 23, participants in 40 Days for Life, which is part of a much larger international movement, will be outside the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic at 4001 Lake Otis Parkway.

Throughout the campaign, advocates hold signs and peacefully pray for an end to the killing of Alaska’s unborn babies. The ecumenical vigil is coordinated to begin on Ash Wednesday, running through Lent and ending on Palm Sunday.

“We need to fill the hours 7am to 7pm, Monday through Saturday,” organizer Mary Kemper wrote in a notice to supporters. “Please grow your prolife hearts and sign up for a one-time hour – or better, an hour each week – or best, multiple hours every week. If you don’t have someone to go with, ask at your church, or go online and look at the calendar for spots when someone else is signed up and go then.”

Participants are encouraged to show up with at least one other person when keeping vigil.

“It’s cold,” Kemper noted. “People will probably yell at you. And you probably won’t see that you are making a difference. But you are.”

Since 2008, the international 40 Days for Life effort has witnessed thousands of women change their minds about abortion, nearly 150 abortion facilities close, and at least 250 abortion workers quit their jobs.

“Come stand against Planned Parenthood and help unborn babies and their parents,” Kemper implored. “Babies are dying, and mothers and fathers are being sold lies. Let’s pray, sacrifice, and work to end abortion in our city.”

The 40-Days for Life vigils occur each fall and spring in cities around the world. The goal is to enlist individuals, churches, families, youth groups, private schools and others who are willing to join together in common focus and prayer. The signature element of 40 Days for Life is a focused, non-stop prayer effort outside a single Planned Parenthood center or other abortion facility. The gatherings are peaceful and educational with the aim of sending a powerful message to the larger community about the tragic reality of abortion.

Despite the fall of Roe v. Wade Alaska remains one of the most liberal abortion states in the nation thanks to numerous Alaska Supreme Court decisions that have struck down virtually every pro-life law in the state. Not only are abortions legal in Alaska for any reason, but the state also publicly funds abortions for low-income women through the state-funded portion of the Medicaid program.

TAKING ACTION

— The 40-Days for Life vigil web site is live and ready for sign-ups.

— For more information, email Mary Kemper at 40DaysforLife-Anchorage@protonmail.com.

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