Despite Covid, wildfires, thunderstorms, and general unrest throughout the country, thousands of pro-lifers gathered on Saturday, September 12th at nearly 200 gravesites of aborted babies and other locations throughout the United States to observe the eighth annual National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children.
Many post-abortive women spoke at memorial services across the nation, including ones held in South Bend, Indiana; Joliet, Naperville, and Romeoville, Illinois; Jackson, Mississippi, Waco, Texas, and Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, where first-time memorial service leader Cheryl Kiefer told of how her three abortions set her on a path of alcoholism and the occult before she turned to God for mercy and healing.
A similar scene played out at memorial services across the country as countless mothers and fathers of aborted children came out to join others in mourning and in prayer. Angela Forker, founder of the After the Abortion Photography Series, spoke at a memorial service in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and afterward wrote the following on Facebook:
The night before the memorial, I was at the hotel praying about what I would be sharing. While I was praying, God showed me something. Because of what He showed me, I ended up changing the last part of my message. I really felt like this was from God, but I struggled with the thoughts of, “Should I really share this?”…”What if that was just me imagining it?”
I saw a picture of a woman in a deep, dark hole. She felt so lost. Alone. Helpless. And afraid. It seemed like there was no way out. And then the hand of God reached down and lifted her up out of the pit and back into the light.
He washed her and made her clean. He put a new garment on her. He spoke to her lovingly. He said, “I love you” and “I forgive you”.
And then He gave her a new name. He called her, “MY CHILD”. …
[Last night] I got a message from a lady who was at the memorial service. I remember looking directly at her as I was telling about my “dream”. I won’t share her whole message, but this is part of what she said, “I wanted you to know, that girl was me. That is exactly where I am right now. Thank you for your photography, it is giving me hope of healing one day.”
To all of you who may be suffering after an abortion, I want you to know that God sees you and He truly does care about your suffering.
Bishops, Clergy Speaks at Memorial Services Nationwide
Several memorial services also featured reflections given by clergymen, including several Catholic bishops: Bishop Earl Boyea (Lansing, Michigan), Bishop Joseph Kopacz (Tupelo, Mississippi), Bishop David Konderla (Shawnee, Oklahoma), Bishop Mark Bartosic (Hillside, Illinois), Bishop Andrew Wypych (Evergreen Park, Illinois), and Bishop William Walterscheid (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).
At a memorial service at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Wooster, Ohio, Pastor Rickey Brown offered these poignant remarks: “The womb reminds us that we are not self-existent. None of us are viable without help from others or from that ecosystem God has built around us. Babies need parents. Elderly need caretakers. The sick need doctors. Refugees need a home. The lonely need a community, and throughout our lives, we need each other.”
Although some memorial services had lower attendance relative to last year — to be expected, on account of Covid restrictions in place in much of the country — other veteran leaders actually witnessed a significant boost in the number of mourners who attended their services. Perhaps the most dramatic example was the memorial service held at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Erie, Pennsylvania, which saw a fourfold increase in attendance relative to last year and which drew participants from as far as 50 miles away.
Several memorial services earned outstanding media coverage, including those held in Trumbull, Connecticut; Holts Summit, Missouri; Tamaqua, Pennsylania; and Wilmington, Delaware; and South Bend, Indiana, where a memorial service was held at the gravesite of the 2,411 victims of abortionist Ulrich Klopfer who were buried in February.
About the National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children
The first National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children was held in September 2013 on the 25th anniversary of the solemn burial of the earthly remains of over 1,500 abortion victims in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The event is now observed annually every September. Pictures and videos from this year’s memorial services can be found on the National Day of Remembrance Facebook page.
