MADISON — Do we still need to stand up for unborn babies in Madison and throughout Wisconsin?
While it’s true that the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court on June 24 reactivated a law on the books that outlawed abortion, our abortion crisis here and around the state is not over.
Planned Parenthood may not be performing surgical or chemical abortions on the east side of Madison, but it is certainly referring for abortions out of state and hoping to resume abortions through political means.
Rather than rest on our laurels, we still need to stand up today for our preborn brothers and sisters, especially during the Fall 2022
40 Days for Life campaign, which runs from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily until Sunday, Nov. 6.
To sign up for an hour of peaceful public prayer, visit vigilforlife.org
Pro-life perseverance
“By no means is our work finished or our witness over. In fact, it is just taken to another level of commitment,” said Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison to the crowd gathered on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood for the September 28 40 Days for Life kick-off rally.
“The power of perseverance is a profound virtue that assures us of fruitfulness in the victory of Christ,” he added.
Bishop Hying then reflected on the seventh Station of the Cross, when Jesus falls the second time, drained of the little energy He had at the start of His journey to Calvary.
“Again, He picks Himself up, picks up the cross, and starts again. I think of that station, how challenging it is to be in the middle. Anybody can start anything. Anybody can finish anything when the end is in sight. But, the battle is won or lost in the middle. And so, we may live our whole lives in the middle of the struggle for life. Nevertheless, we are simply called to be persevering and to be faithful and to entrust our fruitfulness to God.”
During his time in Milwaukee, Bishop Hying spent time praying at abortion facilities.
He often wondered whether those places of death would ever close after remaining open for many years.
With perseverance in prayer, abortion facilities did close.
On October 10, news came that Affiliated Medical Services, a notorious Milwaukee abortion business, closed its doors for good, providing a case in point for the bishop’s words.
In Madison, there is still work for the faithful to do in the “middle” while Planned Parenthood is still open.
Steve Karlen, campaign director for the 40 Days for Life headquarters team, underscored Bishop Hying’s point.
When he recently addressed 40 Days for Life volunteers in Waukegan, Ill., he heard sad news: “[The] abortion facility parking lot there is filled with cars bearing Wisconsin license plates . . . every day.”
While not all abortion-vulnerable women will travel to Illinois, some will seek a referral to an out-of-state abortion facility.
Karlen exhorted the crowd to finish the job “until every woman and baby here in our community is safe from abortion, from being sold an abortion in this building,” referring to Planned Parenthood. “We need to be here for those moms. For those babies.”
Persevering in the middle
Being present on the sidewalk this fall has already been fruitful.
On October 19, a couple walked up to Planned Parenthood only to find the facility locked.
Prayer volunteers spoke to the couple and recommended the Women’s Care Center across the street.
The couple crossed the street and spent 40 minutes or so inside, perhaps scheduling or receiving a free ultrasound; Planned Parenthood would have provided a referral to an out-of-state abortionist.
This “turnaround” from Planned Parenthood would not have been possible without a peaceful presence!
Just days before, Michael Caulfield drove down from Green Bay to speak at the 40 Days for Life midpoint event.
Sharing his testimony in a light rain, Michael described how his wife, Tallulah, had an abortion at age 16, which caused her to self-destruct to the point that she no longer wanted to live.
After she found Jesus, she also met Michael in Australia, and the two fell in love.
But, Tallulah’s wound from abortion ran deep such that, when Tallulah found out she was pregnant, she did what many post-abortive women do: She repeated her abortion trauma.
Michael commented, “More and more studies are showing the link between untreated psychological trauma from an abortion being a factor for repeat abortions. Without healing, a frightening percentage of women are doomed to repeat their awful history.”
And so, Michael and Tallulah hopped on a train and aborted their child.
Tallulah became pregnant again in 2015, ready now to start a family. But, the abortions haunted Tallulah and Michael.
Michael reflected, “As I cradled [my first living child] in my arms, that’s when it hit me. I realized the gravity of what we had done years before: The gift I had missed out on.”
Through post-abortion healing ministries and God’s grace, Michael and Tallulah have been able to accept forgiveness — and forgive themselves — for the loss of their first child together and welcome four living daughters. And they are now on fire to spread the pro-life message.
Michael shared, “Today, with God’s help, my mission is that no man ever feels that same regret. That no father ever feels the way I feel every time I’m in a delivery room. And that every baby has the opportunity to be held and loved.”
Finishing the job
The 40 Days for Life campaign will continue from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily until Sunday, Nov. 6, officially concluding with a celebration and potluck that Sunday at 5 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, 5101 Schofield St., Monona. The event will be in the school cafeteria.
All are invited to celebrate a blessed campaign while committing to persevere in standing up for unborn babies until the day when the abortion facility shuts its doors in Madison for good.
After the 40 Days for Life campaign ends, the 365 for Life campaign resumes, maintaining a year-round peaceful presence every business day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
To sign up for a vigil hour, visit vigilforlife.org or contact Vigil for Life Outreach Director John Bohn at [email protected] or 608-628-7553.