40 Days for Life Fall 2017
40 Days for Life Website
November 1, 2017 ( from Wanda )
This has been a challenging 40 Days for Life campaign. Our opponents have been successful in passing a law to restrict pro-life activity in front of the abortuary on Bank Street. Even though it is now illegal to picket at our vigil site, it is not against the law to pray. Until all the paperwork for Bill 163 is signed, the bubble zone law is not being enforced; those returning with signs are being given a warning by the police. Kudos to those brave souls.
Join us for the Closing Rally. Because of the new law, our location has changed. We will gather at St. Patrick’s Basilica, in the Scavi. Remember that the time changes this weekend; we fall back one hour.
Closing Rally:
Sunday November 5th from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm in the Scavi of St. Patrick’s Basilica.
Enter by the side door on either Nepean or Gloucester Streets.
Guest Speaker is Marie-Claire Bissonnette, co-ordinator of Campaign Life Coalition Youth.
Reception follows, feel free to bring snacks to share.
Yours for Life,
Wanda
Wanda Hartlin
Co-ordinator
40 Days for Life, Ottawa
40 Days for Life Closing Rally:
Join us as we conclude the 2017 Fall 40 Days for Life campaign on Sunday November 5. Due to the recent bubble zone law, we will hold the entire rally and reception at St. Patrick’s Basilica, Scavi starting at 7:00 pm.
Sunday November 5 at 7:00 pm in the Scavi of St. Patrick’s Basilica.
Guest Speaker, Marie-Claire Bissonnette, Youth Co-ordinator, Campaign Life Coalition. Everyone welcome.
Wanda Hartlin
Co-ordinator
40 Days for Life, Ottawa
wanda40daysforlife@clife.ca
October 26, 2017
NOTE: The 40 Days for Campaign has been suspended.
On October 25, Bill 163 (bubble zone legislation) went to third reading and was passed by a vote of 86 to 1. The only MPP to vote against the bill was MPP Jack MacLaren. The bill also received royal assent, meaning it is now law.
Because it is now illegal for us to gather and hold a sign in front of the abortuary on Bank Street, and since 40 Days for Life does not want to put anyone in a position of having a confrontation with the police, we are asking that you continue to fast and pray until the end of the campaign on November 5, but not on Bank Street. St. Patrick's Basilica is open during the day from 6AM to 6PM, we can pray there, or in our own church.
In the meantime we will continue to fast and pray for an end to abortion and I will get back to you as soon as details for the Closing Rally are finalized.
Kissimmee Florida October 24, 2017 photos
October 20 2017
Midpoint Rally Sunday October 17, 2017
Thank you Archbishop Prendergast for your support
Wanda’s talk at the 40 Days for Life Mid-Point Rally
1.....
Abby Johnson, former abortion worker, worked as a clinic director of a Planned
Parent office in Texas for 8 years until she resigned in 2009. She tells her story of
the day she was asked to assist with an abortion and, while watching it progress on
the ultrasound machine, she reacted in horror as a baby of 13 weeks gestation
fought and struggled for his life and then died.
People don’t think about abortion, because they don’t see it. – Abby saw it and it
changed her life.
Nobody grows up wanting to work in the abortion industry.
Abortion exploits women. Motherhood empowers women. Women need to be
empowered, not exploited.
We’re fighting for life, because we believe in love. The love that God has for each
person He creates. Every life is worth fighting for. All life, born and unborn,
should be valued, from conception to natural death. Every single life should be
shown dignity.
There’s something empowering in rebelling against our culture by showing less of
our skin and more of our brains. A belief in their own self-worth is something
young girls in our society lack. The media sends out the message that we must
have perfect bodies and be sexually desirable and active, in order to feel
worthwhile and be taken seriously.
When you hear or read stories about women who have had abortions, you can
sense the sadness in their stories. Often the girl feels she has no other choice and at
times, she is actually taken to the abortuary and not given a choice.
To prepare for tonight I have been reading magazine articles, submitted by women
who had abortions. There is a heaviness in their stories.
Many of them said abortion was the first thought that came to mind when they
found out they had an unexpected pregnancy. Because it meant their lives, as they
knew it, would be changed forever. Most of them were filled with apprehension.
But they went ahead with their abortions anyways, and then they spoke about the
repercussions: the depression, the sleepless nights, the drinking... They felt
ashamed about their inability to ‘just deal with it’ as they think other women do.
2.....
Society tells young women that abortion will solve their problem. It says nothing
about the problems abortion creates.
In every abortion a child dies. The child’s death is intended.
The World Health Organization estimates that one in five pregnancies worldwide
end in abortion, with over 42 million abortions in the world each year. (estimate
for 2003). There is no question that our entire society has been negatively affected.
Abortion throughout the world, has been legalized because of two basic lies. The
first lie is that abortion only destroys a “bunch of cells,” not a human life. The
second lie is, abortion is safe, and it helps women control and improve their lives.
During the last few decades, the pro-life movement has concentrated its efforts on
dispelling this first lie. Much effort has been spent on advertising campaigns,
books, brochures, and films such as the powerful “Silent Scream,” to educate the
public about the humanity of the unborn child.
These educational efforts have achieved great success. In a LifeCanada Poll done
in 2011, a strong majority, 72% of Canadians want to see some protection for
human life in the womb. People know that there is a baby in this picture.
Pregnancy is not a disease.
Clearly, the vast majority of the public understands that abortion involves the
taking of a human life. Even many abortion advocates admit this. So, in large part,
they have now abandoned their first lie in favour of a primary claim: “The needs
and rights of a woman are more important than those of a fetus.”
So, we have to develop a new strategy.
There is an important lesson to learn from this. While efforts to educate the public
about the unborn’s humanity may help to motivate pro-lifers, these efforts will
have no effect on those who support abortion.
Some have hardened their hearts to the “fetus.” It may be human – biology forces
them to admit that much – but they believe the unborn child is less important than
the woman. End of argument. Nothing we can say will sway them from this
position.
Their concern is focused totally on the woman. Therefore, the only way to reach
them is for us, too, to focus on the woman. This point is absolutely critical for pro-
lifers to understand. We must change the abortion debate so that we are arguing
3...
with our opponents on their own turf, on the issue of defending the interests
with our opponents on their own turf, on the issue of defending the interests of
women.
To do this we must begin to concentrate our efforts on exposing the second lie
behind legal abortion. That lie, which is the backbone of the abortion industry,
says: “Abortion is safe.”
The truth is the exact opposite. Abortion hurts women. It can cause irreparable
damage to a woman’s reproductive health. And perhaps more importantly, as
research has shown, abortion almost always causes psychological and emotional
damage. In many cases, this post-abortion trauma is psychologically devastating. It
can literally cripple a woman’s ability to function in normal relationships, with
family, friends, or even at work.
Abortion is never safe. "Safe abortion" is a myth.
Abortion is not safe -- nor it is designed to be. It’s designed to kill our own
children and is the most unnatural act in all of humanity. In fact, an abortion is
considered unsuccessful unless a baby dies. And his or her death is the most
violent you can imagine.
Vague phrases and politically correct words like choice, privacy and reproductive
health are used to cover the real horror of what abortion does. Using politically
correct words doesn’t change the fact that abortion kills a growing human being.
This little human located in its mother’s womb, is at a stage of development, just
like a toddler is at a stage of development, a teenager is at a stage of development.
I’m at a stage of development, as a senior. Just because we don’t see it, doesn’t
mean it isn’t there. If I was in a nursing home, you wouldn’t see me, but I’d still be
there.
UNDERSTANDING THE ABORTION MINDSET
Psychologists describe three levels of moral development. At the lowest level is
concern only for oneself. The “me, myself and I” thinking.
The second level is concern only for those close to you: family, friends, co-
workers, or even anyone whom you are able to tangibly see.
The third level is concern for all others, even in the abstract, even if they are
unknown, unseen – or unborn.
4.....
We, as pro-lifers, are operating at this third level. Arguments on behalf of the
We, as pro-lifers, are operating at this third level. Arguments on behalf of the
unborn are very effective with people at the third level of moral development.
To appeal to the concerns of those at the first and second levels of moral
development, however, we must educate them about the risks abortion poses to
teenagers and adult women. We must appeal to their concern for their daughters,
wives, sisters, and girlfriends.
In the case of the woman considering abortion, we must appeal to her concern for
herself. And let her know that there are options.
When faced with the turmoil of a problem pregnancy, otherwise compassionate
people often revert to the second or first level of moral decision making.
For example, the father of a pregnant fourteen year old girl is likely to focus his
concern on his daughter more than on his unborn granddaughter, whom to him is
only an abstraction. All he can see is this pregnancy “destroying” his dreams for
his daughter’s future, stealing from her all the opportunities of life still open to her.
Even if his daughter wants to keep the child, he may well insist on the abortion
“for her own good” because he thinks her desire to keep the child is just a juvenile
fantasy.
To reach people who think this way, it is not enough to give them facts about fetal
development. It is more important to give them facts about the destructive effects
of abortion on teenage girls.
They must be educated about the risks of permanent reproductive damage. Even
more importantly, they need to be educated about the impact of abortion trauma on
a young girl’s psychological development.
Families of pregnant teens need to be told that over 90 percent of women having
abortions suffer damage to their self-esteem. Nearly 50 percent of post-abortion
women begin or increase drug and alcohol abuse. In the years to follow, 60 percent
experience suicidal tendencies, with up to 28 percent actually attempting suicide.
Other problems include promiscuity, depression, flashbacks, concentration
problems, and dramatic personality changes.
Clearly, once a young woman is pregnant, it is no longer a choice between having
a baby or not having a baby. It is a choice between having a baby or having an
abortion; it is a choice between having a baby or having a traumatic experience
5.....
Over half of women, who suffer post-abortion trauma, report that they were
“forced by others” into unwanted abortions. It’s absolutely critical to educate these
“others” about abortion’s risks. By encouraging abortion, these “significant others”
are actually hurting the loved ones whom they are trying to help. Unless we can
educate the parents, boyfriends, counsellors, and medical community, women will
continue to be pressured into dangerous abortions “for their own good.”
We must never forget that our long-term goal is not to make abortion simply
illegal, but also unthinkable. To achieve this goal, we must change the public
perception about “safe” abortions. We must convince the public that even if
abortion is legalized, it is never safe.
Future generations will recognize abortion for what it is, “medical” butchery of
both the mother and the child.
Our dream is, that years from now, no compassionate person would ever encourage
a young girl to seek out an abortion because everyone will know of its physical,
psychological, and spiritual dangers. Only then will the lessons of our present
generation truly have been learned.
We need to make people aware that whenever one hurts a child, one hurts its
mother as well. And conversely, whenever one helps a mother, one helps her child.
Therefore, the solution to problem pregnancies is not abortion; it is compassion.
Research and education is needed to convince the public about the dangers of
abortion. This strategy will have many effects.
• Knowledge of abortion’s risks will decrease abortions. Family members,
friends, and boyfriends will become less likely to pressure a young woman into an
unwanted abortion “for her own good.”
• As the dangers of abortion become better publicized, more post-abortion
women will begin to recognize the underlying cause of their psychological
problems, encouraging women to finally reach out for help and begin the process
of psychological and spiritual recovery. This will not only benefit them, but it will
benefit the pro-life movement, as more and more post-abortion women begin to
join us in speaking out about the negative effects of abortion.
•Once average citizens realize that women are being hurt by abortion, they
will finally begin to question why we are allowing abortions at all. Until now,
much of the public has been convinced by pro-abortionists that “abortion helps
women.” But once this myth is called into question, once the public begins to
6.....
wonder if abortion is actually hurting women, then the tragedy of killing unborn
babies for nothing, becomes more apparent. If abortion doesn’t help women, it
doesn’t make sense.
Pain after abortion is real.
Last May, men and women stood on Parliament Hill with the Silent No More
Awareness Campaign and spoke about their personal abortion experiences.
Rachel’s Vineyard Retreats are a safe place to renew, rebuild and redeem hearts
broken by abortion. Here a supportive environment is offered, where women and
men can work through painful emotions and begin the process of healing. The
deepest feelings about abortion can be discussed.
The next Rachel's Vineyard Retreat is November 10-12 at the Galilee Retreat
Center in Arnprior. This is a wonderful opportunity of healing for those who have
experienced an abortion. For details about the weekend see
website www.rachelsvineyardottawa.ca
As we witness God’s healing love and mercy, here on Bank Street, and in our
communities, together, we can work to promote the Culture of Life.
Information gathered from websites: http://www.abbyjohnson.org/ and
http://www.afterabortion.org/elliot.html
Reflections made by a facebook friend
October 7, 2017
"I stopped by 40daysforLife yesterday. Within 5 minutes a group of 6 teenagers/young adults walked in together. Three boys and three girls. They didn't look over at me. Twenty minutes later the abortionist arrived. The time continued to pass like normal. The time to leave had passed and at five forty five the teenagers starting coming out. Laughing and joking like a right of passage had taken place. One by one they were stopped in their track and silenced. They looked directly at me and I at them. Frozen like a child caught by their parent. And so not to blame us for the truth stirring within them I looked down. They did not pass unnoticed. It was not a right of passage. It was murder. They participated in murder. I pray now they remember this as affront to their condemnation of others."
October 5, 2017
"Today on the way home for work I stopped by 40daysforLife. I thought I'd leave at 5:30 but since no one showed up I extended till 6pm. Still no one except the hatred, a group of girls going in for an abortion, the abortionist showing up (a young petite blond). I was feeling a little sad then I looked behind me. A lady was sitting down and she waved. She said she'd been watching what was going on for the past few days and decided to sit and take the reality in. She thanked me ...for what I was doing then started to cry as we walked together to the bus stop. "How can this be happening? How can they continue to kill babies?" I said it's evil and I could see a few people actually loving that it was happening. The weeds. If we don't acknowledge it and stand up to it we can't take it to God and let Him Change the World. I left at 6pm tonight with no one to take over my post while an abortion was happening. I heard God say, "I've got this." And I believe He does."
October 4, 2017
"Another reflection from yesterdays 40daysforlife here in Ottawa. Between 4 and 5:30 is the best time to be there not because of those going in but because of those going home. A young man was stopped by the light in front of me. He wasn't happy. He held himself back from yelling. He rolled up his window, covered his eyes from my view. I started saying over and over again within myself, "what did you do?" Then it happened. He started crying. Then the light changed and he was allowed to go. He didn't look back over he just sobbed and drove."
October 4, 2017
"Stopped by 40daysforLife on the way home today. Love standing in the rain. I also love it when young ladies yell at me. Yes I'm strange that way.
;) I really don't pay attention to what they are saying I'm normally overwhelmed by the fact that they want my attention and for me to remember them. This time I was overwhelmed by a mothers love and the words. "I see you. I've got you. I won't forget you. I will see you again in heaven." Praise God He's working and I get to witness His greatness."
October 3, 2017
" Hatred is the mask that covers all their sorrow. We do this to remove the mask and allow them to feel again. Baby steps. In honour of their babies."
October 2, 2017
"Amazing thing today at 40daysforLife I noticed quite a few couples reading my sign.. they started a discussion ... which turned into an argument between them. God is Working."
The 40 Days for Life, Fall campaign is taking place from September 27 to November 5 and we're looking forward to your prayer support, and, if possible, your presence at the daily prayer vigil on Bank Street, across from 65 Bank. We will be gathering for prayer every day during the campaign from 7 am to 7 pm.
Since the 40 Days for Life campaign began in 2007, 89 abortion facilities have closed. This time we join 375 locations around the world and thousands of people who are praying and fasting for an end to abortion. All heaven is cheering us on.
A poster is attached with the rally dates. Join us as we gather to kick off the campaign, on Sunday September 24 at 7 pm, at the vigil site - across the street from Ottawa's main abortion facility (65 Bank Street).
Updates can also be seen on our local website: https://40daysforlife.com/local-campaigns/ottawa
Remember to close the white pop-up box and see the information in the right hand column
Or Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/40days4lifeottawa
Possibility of a province-wide bubble zone has been in the news of late. Pro-life groups are working to protect our right to practice our faith in public. Here is a link to an update, or read it below:
We encourage you to contact the Attorney General of Ontario and your provincial member of parliament, asking them not to curtain our religious freedom to pray outside of abortion facilities. As far as I know, Ontario provincial parliament has not yet introduced any proposed legislation.
You may reach the Attorney General at:
Honorable Yasir Navqi
Minister of the Attorney General
Constituency Office
109 Catherine Street
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0P4
ynaqvi.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Here is a news story with an update:
NEWS Wed Sep 6, 2017 - 12:31 pm EST
Pro-lifers fight Ontario gov’t crackdown on activism outside abortion clinics
TORONTO, September 6, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — The Ontario government’s intention to bring in a law banning pro-life witness at abortion facilities will hurt women by denying them information on alternatives to abortion they likely won’t get elsewhere, a number of pro-life groups told the Liberals last week.
Moreover, a law creating “safe access zones” around abortion centers will violate the Charter, is “anti-democratic,” and will set a dangerous precedent for government “overreach,” they said.
Representatives of Campaign Life Coalition, Alliance for Life Ontario, and the Association for Reformed Political Action met with officials from the attorney general’s office on August 30 as part of the government’s consultations on its proposed “bubble zone” law.
The officials did not say what other groups the Liberals are consulting.
Attorney General Yasir Naqvi announced in May that he would introduce a law in the fall to restrict pro-life activity. The MPPs return to Queen’s Park on September 11.
Some observers say the Liberals want a “bubble zone” law because the 1994 NDP government injunction banning pro-life activities at various locations lapsed in January under new provincial regulations on out-of-date court actions.
The Liberals brought in a motion June to reinstate the 24-year-old injunction on an “emergency basis.” The court threw that motion out, but the government is still seeking to restore the order.
But Navqi’s stated reason for introducing the “bubble zone” law is because Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson asked him to.
Watson was reacting to lobbying by Planned Parenthood and Ottawa’s Morgentaler abortion centre, which stirred up a media storm over its allegations that pro-life witnesses were harassing women coming into the facility and police weren’t doing anything about it.
So the mayor turned to the province and Navqi said he’d look into it.
“Our government does not tolerate any form of harassment against women exercising their fundamental right to choose,” the attorney general said at the time.
But Watson told the Ottawa Citizen a city lawyer “said if we were to bring in something specific for (individual protesters), it would be challenged under the charter in two minutes.”
Pro-life groups made the same point to ministry officials while voicing adamant opposition to the proposed law.
The province doesn’t have the authority to supplement or expand the Criminal Code, which falls under federal jurisdiction, noted ARPA representative and lawyer John Sikkema.
The Liberals would have to invoke the “notwithstanding clause” to override the Charter when they bring in such legislation, representatives for Campaign Life Coalition told the ministry.
Indeed, the Ontario Court of Appeal just struck down a town’s trespass order banning a noisy protester from municipal property for a year, they said.
The court ruled the Fort Erie order violated the man’s Charter right to “engage in protest.”
More significantly, the Liberals’ bubble zone law would deprive women of crucial information on alternatives to abortion, the pro-life groups said.
Evidence shows that a “significant subset” of women entering abortion facilities have not been told what an abortion is and haven’t given informed consent, noted Alliance for Life Ontario president Geoff Cauchi and executive director Jakki Jeffs.
The pro-life groups pointed to numerous testimonies from women expressing deep gratitude that they spoke with sidewalk counselors outside abortion centers, and as a result, decided against abortion.
Pro-life witnesses are typically low-key, and are there to engage women who respond to them in quiet conversation, to offer them information and alternatives to abortion, they told ministry officials.
It’s abortion advocates who are more likely to engage in angry words and behavior that can be construed as intimidating or harassing, they said.
They also protested the harsh penalties for violations of the law the Ontario government is considering.
Matt Wojciechowski of Campaign Life pointed to the “absurdity of these proposed penalties which exceed those for drunk driving,” with the consequence that seniors, young students, and other pro-life witnesses could be thrown in jail for praying within the “safe access” zones.
Punishment for a first offense could be a fine of up to $5000 and up to six months in jail, with a $10,000 maximum fine and a year in jail for a second offence.
Those are the penalties in British Columbia and Newfoundland, currently the only jurisdictions in Canada with laws banning pro-life witness in prescribed areas.
Ontario is looking to these as possible models for its legislation.
BC passed its law in 1995 and Newfoundland in 2016, and both allow abortion facilities to apply for “safe access zones” of 50 meters.
The activities banned within these zones include sidewalk counseling or “interference,” protesting, besetting, physically interfering or attempting to interfere with, and intimidating or attempting to intimidate doctors, facility personnel or women seeking abortions.
Two abortion centres and two hospitals have been granted a “safe access zone” in BC, as has one abortion facility in Newfoundland.
A BC appeals court upheld that province’s law in three decisions (R v Lewis, 1996, R v Demers, 2002, R v Spratt, 2008).
The Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of the Spratt ruling in 2009. But that doesn’t rule out the top court hearing a “bubble zone” law Charter case in the future.
Meanwhile, Campaign Life Coalition has launched a petition asking MPPs to vote against the legislation. It has been signed by 1,193 people to date.
Campaign Life is also urging pro-lifers to write Navqi and their MPP to oppose the bill.
Those letters can be sent to:
Honorable Yasir Navqi
Minister of the Attorney General
Constituency Office
109 Catherine Street
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0P4
ynaqvi.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Yours for Life,WandaWanda HartlinCo-ordinator40 Days for Life, Ottawawanda40daysforlife@clife.ca613-299-2515
Ottawa has signed up for the next 40 Days for Life campaign which is taking place from September 27 to November 5. Again we are asking you to help us storm heaven with your prayers and fasting to end abortion. Those, yet unborn, need us to intercede on their behalf. At that time are also planning to hold a prayer vigil on Bank Street, across from Ottawa’s main abortion facility (65 Bank).
Please join us again this year for the 40 Days for Life campaign.
An information meeting, open to everyone, is taking place on Wednesday evening, Wed. August 30th at 7:00 pm at St. Patrick’s Basilica in the basement Scavi (entrance is by the side door on either Gloucester or Nepean Streets). Parking is free in the church lot on Gloucester St. Attached is a poster with the information. The poster is also available in French and I would be happy to send you a copy. Let me know if you would like one.
Feel free to print and post the attachment.
During the first part of the meeting you will be given an update on the upcoming 40 Days for Life campaign, then we will break for coffee. After the coffee break, a meeting will take place for the church and group representatives. Everyone is welcome to stay for both or one of the sessions.
Please support us as we begin the 2017 – 40 Days for Life campaign.
Yours for Life,
Wanda
Wanda Hartlin
Co-ordinator
40 Days for Life Ottawa
wanda40daysforlife@clife.ca
see poster at bottom of page