Numbers don’t lie: 40 Days for Life campaigns are a huge success. Every year, the number of babies spared from abortion as a result of the campaigns proves to be astounding. As the 40 Days for Life campaign this spring comes to a close, we were told that at least 554 children were saved, and that doesn’t count the mothers, fathers, siblings, grandparents, and everyone else who was spared of the heartbreak that could have followed the tragic deaths of those precious little ones.
But the 40 Days for Life also causes a downward trend in numbers – in Planned Parenthood revenue, that is. Planned Parenthood has been understandably paranoid about the 40 Days for Life virtually since the latter’s inception, always looking for ways to curb the monetary losses that come at the hands, or should we say hearts, of the silent prayer warriors participating in the 40 Days for Life. Planned Parenthood’s attempts to counteract the life-saving work of the 40 Days for Life have spanned the spectrum from ingenious to laughable, but in the end, one thing is for sure: Planned Parenthood is the losing team. And their numbers will continue to affirm this fact as long as loyal pro-lifers stay involved in the 40 Days for Life.
Here’s a sampling of of the many ways Planned Parenthood has tried to combat the simple but powerful movement of 40 Days for Life:
40 Days of Lemonade, Planned Parenthood of Central Pennsylvania
“Help us make lemonade out of their lemons! Be part of our 40 Day Pledge-a-Protester Campaign!”
“Our lemons” are apparently the lives saved via prayer and fasting by 40 Days for Life participants. Of course, Planned Parenthood’s answer to every question and problem is: Money. And the 40 Days for Life are no exception. How do you counteract peaceful prayer and fasting aimed at putting an end to abortion? If you ask Planned Parenthood, the answer is to mope about how hard life with 40 Days for Life-ers is, and hope for the sympathetic donation from an unscrupulous supporter. Cute.
40 Days of Harassment, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast and Planned Parenthood North Country
In Houston, TX and North Country, NY, Planned Parenthood has been known to take the defensive and scheme up a campaign called “40 Days of Harassment” to coincide with the too-successful-for-comfort 40 Days for Life campaign.
On North Country’s website, there is a Q&A section explaining how, apparently, silent prayer and peaceful demonstration are harassment intended to bar a woman’s access to “health services” (this cute term is usually code for abortion). To make up for the fiscal losses associated with praying abortion-minded women into the arms of pregnancy help clinics rather than Planned Parenthood butcheries, the 40 Days of Harassment campaign encourages donors to “Pledge-a-Protester.” And if you do, guess what! You get to be one of these super-cool superheroes!
Q: I’ve heard of the Pledge-a-Protester campaign, what is it?
A: Pledge-a-protester is a way for Planned Parenthood of the North Country New York to turn a negative into a positive. Supporters can make a pledge of any amount the feel comfortable for every protester present. You can choose to participate during the “40 Days” campaign or throughout the year. Either way, we’ll send you a notice to let you know what your pledge totals.
40 Days of Prayer and Contemplation, Planned Parenthood of Humboldt County
Most of PP’s counteracting campaigns are downright dumb, but this one is borderline disturbing. In a brochure that makes the wildly off-base claim that its organizers (Clergy for Choice) “respect all human life,” the 40 Days of Prayer and Contemplation campaign in California shed a whole new light – or darkness – on what it means to be pro-abortion. Day 14 of this prayer campaign calls on Christians to live the Gospel message, passive-aggressively propagating the myth that pro-lifers run around shaming women for their choice:
Today we pray for Christians everywhere to embrace the loving model of Jesus in the way he refused to shame women.
They say that evil is most effective when it incorporates a grain of truth, like this Gospel imagery. By that criterion, this “40 Days of Prayer Supporting Women Everywhere” makes us wonder: to whom are they praying?
