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Saturday -- the anniversary of Roe v. Wade -- has been designated for prayer and fasting. Please pray not only for the unborn at risk or lost,
but also for greater awareness in our churches that most abortions are unwanted or coerced, that pregnancy-related abuses and forced abortions happen in our own circles, and for help and healing for those in need,
at risk or already hurt or killed.
Why didn't they take my side? Planned Parenthood is supposed to be about women's choices, but they didn't respect my choice. Instead, they took his side.
Because of my abortion, I had 35 years of pain and silence. I have gone through trauma for 35 years; that doesn't go away. There is nothing they can say to take that away. --Darlene Dunn, whose attempt to testify about pre-abortion abuses was silenced by the New Jersey Legislature
 Jan. 22 is widely observed as a day of prayer and fasting for violations against the dignity of the human person through acts of abortion and for restoring legal protection of every person's right to life.
This weekend, on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion in America, it is appropriate and important to remember so many lives -- both women and children -- lost or otherwise destroyed, that the numbers themselves become unfathomable.
If you've been following our work, you know that -- in addition to the lives of unborn children, many women of all ages and from all walks of life have been exploited and abused -- often in unimaginable ways -- or killed. Still others have died during or after abortion.
But many - even in our own churches -- don't know this.
Unwanted abortions ... a well-kept secret of Big Abortion
It is typically not known or discussed in our churches, that most abortions are unwanted or coerced ... that many -- even in America -- are forced. People in your own church may not realize that their own daughters, friends or loved ones are at risk or already suffering.
Many women undergo unwanted abortions for fear of escalating abuse, or loss of their support network, their family, their home, emergency shelter, or even their lives.
Some families grieve not only the loss of an unborn child, but also a daughter, sister or friend who died from pregnancy-related abuses, medical malpractice or post-abortion injury and death.
- Over half of abortions are unwanted or coerced
- 65% suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome
- Homicide is the #1 killer of pregnant women
- Post-abortion maternal death rates are nearly 4 times higher
- Suicide rates are 6 times higher, including teens who are especially at risk of both coercion and suicide [Source]
We live in a world where women who are pregnant are women at risk.
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Employers have fired or blackmailed pregnant women, pressuring them to abort.
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Schools have bussed students to abortion clinics without parents' consent.
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Shelters and services have turned away women if they don't first have an abortion.
- Pregnant women have been beaten, tortured or killed for refusing abortion.
In the Forced Abortion in America report, we have summarized and cited a haunting cross-section of such issues, including coercion that escalates to violence or homicide, the leading killer of pregnant women.
In other cases, the "shotgun" in shotgun abortions is not literal, but figurative. For many women, multi-lateral, sustained and escalating pressure to abort, including the threat of losing loved ones or worse, is often enough to crush a woman's resources, spirit and will.
The damage done is unfathomable, the task at hand is formidable, but prayer is powerful.
Awakening our churches
This weekend, please join us in praying and resolving to reach out to those in our own midst, in a personal, practical and timely way. One important thing you can do is to join our Church Awareness Project, if you haven't already. Please sign up here and watch for more details to come.
May God bless you for your perseverance in this important work!
Resources & Tips for Day of Prayer and Fasting:
Pro-Woman/Pro-Life Prayer Intentions
Rev. Collins Article on Prayer & Fasting
Learn more about the Elliot Institute's Church Awareness Project
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