On Saturday, September 12, thousands of pro-lifers gathered at over 140 gravesites of aborted babies or other locations throughout the United States for the third annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children.
This year’s Day of Remembrance took on special significance in light of the eye-opening #PPSellsBabyParts videos that have been released over the past several weeks, and the tidal wave of action in response to these videos no doubt played a significant role in making this year’s Day of Remembrance the largest of the past three years.
Several memorial services featured reflections given by clergymen, including seven Catholic bishops, among whom were Archbishop Allen Vigneron (Detroit, Michigan), Bishop Joseph Kopacz (Jackson, Missippi), and Bishop R. Walker Nickless (Sioux City, Iowa).
Many post-abortive women also spoke at memorial services, including Jessica Schuessler, who spoke at at service held at the gravesite of 2,033 aborted babies at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois. Jessica told her very personal story of how she was coerced by her mother to have an abortion when she was only 14 years old, despite the fact that neither she nor the baby’s father wanted to go through with it. Now active as a sidewalk counselor at Planned Parenthood’s large abortion facility in Aurora, Illinois, she exhorted those in attendance to become involved in sidewalk counseling and praying at their local abortion clinic.
Mourners Brave Bad Weather, Travel Great Distances to Take Part in Day of Remembrance
Numerous memorial services were held in pouring rain or other less than ideal weather conditions, but that did not seem to keep attendance figures down. Indeed, as more than one local leader remarked, the rain seemed like “tears from heaven,” properly befitting for such a day focused on mourning the loss of the victims of abortion.
From an organizer’s standpoint, it was particularly gratifying to have the opportunity to work with several individuals who, having learned about the National Day of Remembrance just a few days beforehand, were eager to take part. In one case, a woman in Virginia found out the Day of Remembrance on Thursday and immediately made plans to go with her two young children and her sister two days later to visit the Memorial to the Unborn located at the Liberty Godparent Home in Lynchburg—a 90-minute drive—and hold a memorial service of their own.
What’s more, the coordinator of the memorial service held at the gravesite of 10 aborted babies in Grand Forks, North Dakota reported that their memorial service attracted mourners from as far away as Winnipeg, Canada—more than two and a half hours away!
Regardless of the distance we traveled to attend a memorial service on Saturday, the thousands of pro-lifers who did so rightly recognized that we have an obligation to mourn the lives of aborted children. For if we do not mourn them, who will?
Several stories chronicling the National Day of Remembrance for Aborted have appeared thus far in news media across the country. Perhaps the best story that has appeared thus far is one that aired on WLBT-TV news in Jackson, Mississippi, which can be viewed at the top of this article.
About the National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children
The National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children is a joint project of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, Priests for Life, and the Pro-Life Action League. The first National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children was held in September 2013, and the event will be continue to be observed annually on the second Saturday of September.
