Determined pro-life advocates in Anchorage are preparing for another 40-day vigil of prayer and public support for unborn babies.

As they do nearly every spring and fall, 40 Days For Life organizers are currently looking for volunteers to help plan and organize another successful campaign outside the largest abortion clinic in Alaska.

The upcoming campaign, which will occur outside the Planned Parenthood abortion shop on Lake Otis, is moving forward despite the fact that pro-lifers were threatened with an ominous message earlier this summer.

In early June, the Anchorage Police Department received a report of vandalism along the public sidewalk outside the Lake Otis Planned Parenthood clinic in which someone spray painted the words, “Run Over Protestors.”

This is the same location where, twice a year, hundreds of pro-life advocates gather for the fall and spring 40 Days for Life vigils. Participants pray, hold signs and affirm the dignity of unborn babies along the public sidewalk near the abortion mill.

Undaunted by the anonymous threat, pro-lifers are planning to pray outside Planned Parenthood from Sept. 25 to Nov. 3. The goal is to have at least two people present, Monday through Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. People are free to sign up as partners or as groups. In the past, families, schools, youth groups, churches and myriad organizations have taken turns filling the time slots.

Since 2007, the international 40 Days for Life effort has witnessed thousands of women change their minds about abortion. According to the group’s international website, the vigils have resulted in 155 abortion facilities closing, at least 263 abortion workers quiting their jobs, and nearly 25,000 babies saved from death by abortion. In total, 1 million volunteers have now participated in 12,358 separate campaigns around the world.

The signature element of 40 Days for Life is a focused, non-stop prayer effort outside a local 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 website is live and ready for sign-ups. For more information, click here.

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