By Kathleen Gilbert
October 9, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The 21st annual Life Chain drew hundreds of thousands of pro-lifers onto the streets this past Sunday. Motorists in over 1,600 locations in America and Canada witnessed protesters peacefully holding signs decrying the brutality of abortion.
“On the whole, the Life Chain was a great success,” said Suresh Dominic of Canada’s Campaign Life Coalition about the 2008 campaign. This year’s Life Chain saw the most participants and locations since the campaign began in 1987. Over 1,400 cities officially joined Life Chain, many with several locations.
Participants in the Life Chain spread themselves along public roadsides, extending their message as far as possible between solitary, silently praying protesters. Life Chain members keep the message clear and non-graphic with signs reading, “Abortion Kills Children” or “Abortion Hurts Women.”
Texas Life Chain coordinator Sharron Anderson told LifeSiteNews.com that the public reception of the pro-life display in recent years has been “amazing.”
“The reaction is a lot more positive than it used to be,” said Anderson, who believes more young people are becoming aware of the personhood of the unborn child.
“There are a lot of stories of kids being part of Life Chain, and after that show of courage, it has given them the backbone to speak up,” Anderson added. She also related a story about a young Wisconsin girl who had frequently been part of Life Chain in her childhood. After falling away from the practice of her faith, she had become pregnant and was considering abortion.
“But the girl said, ‘I can’t do this, I’ve been part of Life Chain all my life!’” said Anderson.
Royce Dunn of the National Life Chain Office related a story from this year’s Life Chain, of a woman who told a crisis pregnancy center employee about how she went to church that Sunday to ask God about the abortion she was contemplating:
“She cried and cried as she prayed for God to give her a sign as to what to do. She was pregnant, had 4 girls already. A doctor told her not to work because she was so sick, and her rent was past due.
“She told me that when she left the church and drove through town she saw something she had never seen before – people holding signs and the first one she saw was ‘Abortion Kills Children.’”
“She just cried and told me that this was her answer to her prayer for God to show her a sign.”
To find out more about Life Chain, visit www.LifeChain.net or www.nationalLifeChain.org
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Heartland Christian Church Demands Peaceful Pro-Life Life Chain Participants Leave
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/oct/08100708.html