Pro-Lifers in 1500 Cities Will Join LifeChains This Weekend

National   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 1, 2012   |   12:13PM   |   Washington, DC

In Life Chain’s 25th year of prayer and public witness, hundreds of thousands of people will join together to present a united message against abortion on the streets of more than 1,500 cities across the U.S. and Canada.

Pro-life people around the nation will be literally standing up for women and unborn children this weekend. They’ll be taking part in an event known as Life Chain, a pro-life tradition that has been attracting media attention for years as pro-life people silently and peacefully oppose abortion and help women.

The event primarily takes place the afternoon of Sunday, October 7, but some cities and towns will coordinate their LifeChain events later in the month.

The idea for the annual event was born back in 1985, when organizer Royce Dunn was inspired to get people together in the rural town of Yuba City, California, to show support for the sanctity of human life. More than 2,000 people turned out for the event.

In the years since, Dunn estimates that millions of people in cities and towns across North America have come together to form human chains to show their opposition to abortion.

Dunn tells LifeNews.com that the purposes of the LifeChain are two-fold: the first is the obvious public outreach with the pro-life message the events afford local communities but the second is its purpose to call on local pastors, priests and churches to speak up more against abortion.

“Let us this year, as never before, pray for broken hearts and commitment, that we might see the end of legal child killing and experience mercy for our nation, rather than justice,” says Dunn. “Let us restore the biblical meaning of pro-life and in so doing restore to the church much needed integrity and relevance. The pulpit can accomplish that. It is more powerful than any congress or parliament.”

Dunn is urging pro-life pastors and priests to encourage members of their churches to attend.

“Let us view preborn humanity as God’s invaluable “gifts” with divine purpose — gifts “in the image of God” that we must defend, whatever the cost. Of urgent need are pastors who will return pro-life to its biblical roots, who will equip and mobilize their laity, and who will persuade fellow clergy to prepare themselves for battle against massive child mutilation,” he said.

Texas and national coordinator Sharron Albertson also talked about the upcoming LifeChain.

“Last year on the first Sunday of October in more than 1,800 locations in 1,500 cities and towns across the United States and Canada, tens of thousands of pro-life people gathered to pray silently beside major streets and hold professionally-printed signs that are provided at the site,” she said. “Again this year they will peacefully show solidarity in the Christian community for the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.  They will stand in honor of the 54 million lives who have been lost to abortion.”

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“Every year young women report deciding not to have an abortion after reading the signs and seeing the people praying,” she continued. “Students who participate understand that a third of their generation has disappeared and then convince their friends not to kill their baby. Numbers of people step into volunteer pro-life positions after being part of a Life Chain – becoming more aware of the need to pray for people in crisis situations.”

For a list of locations, visit https://www.NationalLifeChain.org or https://www.LifeChain.net