Claire Howson, local leader of the 40 Days for Life campaign, stands in front of the Cherry Hill Women’s Center.
As the annual 40 Days for Life campaign begins at the end of this month, local pro-life leaders are encouraging all to fight for the lives of the unborn.
The time from Sept. 23-Nov. 1 is an “opportunity to change hearts and minds” in a world that sees an estimated 40 million abortions every year, says Claire Howson, local leader of the 40 Days for Life campaign.
The campaign’s roots trace back to 1998, when four members of the Brazos Valley (Texas) Coalition for Life sought to put a stop to the practices of a nearby abortion center. Recognizing the significance of the number 40 in the Bible, the quartet began a movement of prayer and fasting, peaceful vigils outside abortion facilities, and community outreach that continues today.
“It never made sense to me, to be able to abort a child,” Howson says, referencing the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
Howson understands the complications women can face in pregnancy, and the pressures they can receive from family and friends to have an abortion. With 40 Days for Life, she hopes the witness of those outside abortion centers will cause arriving women to turn around and choose life. These “turn-arounds” can find help in Howson and the nonprofit organization she runs, Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, NJ, which assists women with emotional support; with financial support for such needs as housing, food and transportation; and with “life plans” to help them reach their goals.
Matthew Davis, diocesan director of Life and Justice Ministries, is grateful to Howson and the “many Catholics and people of other faiths and of goodwill who witness to life and show care and concern for the mother and her unborn child.”
The local 40 Days for Life is currently looking for volunteers to pray outside the Cherry Hill Women’s Center on Kings Highway, from Sept. 23-Nov. 1. The hope is to have at least two people providing a peaceful and prayerful witness each hour, every day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Howson says. Sign-ups, and invites to a family member or friend to join, are strongly encouraged, by going to www.40daysforlife.com/cherry-hill.
“Babies deserve a chance at life,” she says. “When there’s life, there’s hope.”
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