2 more results from taking the pro-life message to the street (for us the sidewalk) – according to Priests for Life:
5. Street (or sidewalk) activity is valuable not only for what it does to the public, but what it does for the pro-lifers themselves. When someone expresses his convictions publicly, those convictions are strengthened inwardly. When someone brings the truth to the public streets or stands in prayer where killing is actually taking place, that person receives a deeper sense of the urgency of the battle and the reality of the problem. Street activities also help to recruit pro-life activists (see more on this below).
6. A key aspect of the message we publicly proclaim is that the mothers of aborted babies are also harmed and sometimes killed by the same procedure that kills their children. The abortion industry is responsible for untold numbers of malpractice incidents, resulting in maternal injuries and deaths. A poster is now available which contains some of the names of mothers who obtained so-called “safe and legal” abortions but died as a result. It is a very powerful practice to bring this poster to a prayer vigil or picket in front of an abortion mill (or elsewhere) and have a leader read each of the names of these deceased. After each name, the assembled group can respond, “Lord, have mercy on her.” (The poster is available from Life Dynamics. Call 1-800-401-6494).
7. Pro-life presence in the streets (or on the sidewalks) is more essential than ever. Defenders of abortion are not only saying no to life; they are seeking to silence our yes. For example, the official guidelines of BACAOR (an anti-life group in San Francisco) say that they seek to get pro-lifers not only to go away from the door of the abortion mill, but to go away altogether. Efforts such as RICO suits and the FACE Law unfairly discriminate against pro-life free speech, and the enemy uses them to instill in us a fear of speaking out. They want us to go away. Our response can and must be, “We will not go away!” Now is the time to increase and intensify our activities on the streets, not to back away from them! The best way to defend our First Amendment rights is to exercise them without fear! This is the moment to show our opponents that we will not be intimidated from speaking up for what is right.
O God, we too often try to live in ways that ignore our coming death.
We forget that our days are numbered by You,
that at the end of our days your judgement awaits, that You are the Lord of our destiny.
Help us to repent daily, and then to live each day in joyful obedience.
Lead us to live in the light and promise of eternity.
Prepare us to live fully and sacrificially.
Prepare us to die faithfully and hopefully, so that we might live forever with You.
Through Jesus Christ, who has gone before us, we trust and hope and love and pray. Amen.
