Abortion-free states: focused objective
of 40 Days for Life fall campaigns

WASHINGTON, DC – “Despite the increasingly shrill rhetoric of the abortion industry, the simple truth is that business is off,” said David Bereit, national campaign director of 40 Days for Life. “Abortion numbers have dropped so significantly that several states are now down to only one or two remaining abortion centers. This fall’s 40 Days for Life campaign presents a great opportunity to finish the life-saving work in these states, creating abortion-free zones and encouraging other states to follow suit.”

This fall, 40 Days for Life vigils will take place at the last remaining abortion centers in North Dakota and Mississippi, states which each have only one remaining abortion facility, as well as the last two abortion facilities in Nebraska and the last two in Kentucky.

In all, more than 170 cities in the United States and Canada will take part in 40 Days for Life from September 24 through November 2, making this initiative the largest and longest coordinated pro-life mobilization in history. Each campaign is a focused 40-day-long initiative made up of three components: prayer and fasting for an end to abortion, peaceful vigils outside local abortion facilities – round-the-clock vigils in many cities – and grassroots educational outreach to an entire community. The list of participating cities is available online at: http://www.40daysforlife.com/location.cfm.

In Jackson, Mississippi, the 40 Days for Life vigil will be held at National Women’s Health Organization. All other abortion centers in Mississippi have closed their doors. In Fargo, North Dakota, the campaign will focus on Red River Women’s Clinic, the only remaining place in the state where abortions are performed.

In Nebraska abortions are down 50 percent since their peak in 1990, according to a recent report from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. “Because Nebraskans are turning away from abortion in record numbers, the state now has only two abortion centers,” said Bereit, “and 40 Days for Life vigils will be conducted outside both: the facility in the Omaha suburb of Bellvue that is operated by LeRoy Carhart, the abortionist whose name is on the Supreme Court case concerning partial-birth abortion, and the Planned Parenthood center in Lincoln, where abortions ceased for eight weeks following a 40 Days for Life campaign this spring. By encouraging more people to reject abortion, we are confident it will no longer be profitable for these two remaining centers to remain in business.”

In Kentucky, vigils will be held at the Louisville and Lexington locations of EMW Women’s Surgical Center, the last two abortion facilities in that state.

Two other abortion centers that were the sites of previous 40 Days for Life vigils have gone out of business this year – one in Dallas, Texas and the other in Rockland County, New York. “It was the power of a peaceful, prayerful presence that helped make a difference in these communities,” said Bereit. “With God’s help, we look forward to seeing which will be the first abortion-free state in America.”