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Every day, pro-life activists act to prevent the devastation of abortion from claiming unborn children and their mothers. Last week, Priests for Life launched a “Shockwaves” campaign to show how abortion also affects siblings, grandparents, fathers, and even abortionists.

In a press release, Priests for Life National Director Father Frank Pavone said that “each individual abortion procedure is an explosive event in the lives of the mother and father and those closely connected to that decision.”

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“The shockwaves not only deeply touch the mother and father but all those who are part of abortion decisions and procedures,” continued the Catholic priest.

While the campaign, formally entitled “Healing the Shockwaves of Abortion,” won't officially launch until January 22 in front of the Supreme Court, Pavone and other pro-life leaders held a press conference on January 8 to announce the project.

Speaking at the National Press Club along with Pavone were Georgette Forney of Anglicans for Life; Dr. Alveda King, who heads outreach to black Americans for Priests for Life; Rachel's Vineyard co-founder Kevin Burke; and Family Research Council Director of the Center for Human Dignity Arina Grossu.

“Since we are all one human race…this healing grace is for everyone. We can begin that journey of healing by admitting the truth about abortion, and by including the unborn when we insist that 'black lives matter,'” said King.

“The wounds from abortion are deep,” said Grossu. “Abortion not only kills an innocent baby, but deeply wounds her mother and everyone else involved.”

“The emptiness resulting from the sheer loss of innocent human life is vast.  A mother’s womb should be the safest place on earth for her unborn child, yet it is often the battleground between life and death.  Abortion not only tears a child from her mother’s womb, but tears away at the intimate fabric of the family unit,” she continued.

At the press conference, Pavone told LifeSiteNews that his organization has been involved in the effort to pass the “Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act,” or H.R. 36, “from its very, very earliest strategic time, when it was beginning to be introduced in the states.”

“We will be advocating for, and educating on, this particular legislation very, very strongly, in the weeks and months right ahead of us,” said Pavone. “We believe that this is truly the next chapter in the pro-life movement's effort to restore legal protection to these children.”

“How does Shockwaves intersect with this? As an awareness campaign, any debate about this legislation…will be strengthened by having” those who have experienced late-term abortions bring forth their testimony, Pavone concluded. 

The harm of late-term abortion is not just felt by those who receive abortions, said Pavone. He highlighted the pro-life conversion of Dr. Anthony Levatino, who after the death of his daughter decades ago went from being an abortionist to fighting for life. Levatino, who did not attend the press conference, previously testified to Congress about the physical realities of abortion.

In a post-conference statement, Pavone told LifeSiteNews that “shockwaves will certainly impact both the American culture and the public policy that is shaped by it. We are confident about this, because this initiative taps into a cultural change that is already happening — namely, the way that people are looking at abortion has changed precisely because of the experience of those wounded by it – not only moms and dads, but the wider family as well and the abortion practitioners themselves.”

Burke told LifeSiteNews that Priests for Life anticipates its coalition of members to continue to expand. “In June we will be partnering with Brad Mattes and the Life Issues Institute and the Men and Abortion Network for that month's focus on men and abortion loss,” he explained. “We are finalizing another partnership with two ministries that minister in an effective way to those who have come to understand they lost a sibling(s) to abortion, which is our focus in April.”