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April 25, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Energized by undercover videos that depict the unspeakable, thousands of pro-life Americans gathered outside Planned Parenthood facilities nationwide on Saturday for an annual event known as #ProtestPP.

The event – organized by Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, Created Equal, and the Pro-Life Action League – covered the breadth of the country, from New York to California, and Minnesota to Arizona. The expansive gathering stretched across large cities, college towns, and any area that attracted a Planned Parenthood office to the neighborhood.

Between dozens and hundreds of pro-life advocates attended each one of the more than 220 separate rallies, demanding that the government defund Planned Parenthood and that charges be dropped against David Daleiden, the 27-year-old whose investigation brought to light evidence that Planned Parenthood harvests and sells aborted babies' body parts for a profit.

Daleiden himself addressed the crowd in Sacramento, California, revealing new details about the day agents raided his home. In Detroit, a group of counterprotesters associated with the Satanic Temple briefly interrupted the somber moment of pro-life prayer and reflection.

But for the most part, the #ProtestPP rally lent itself more to prayer and counseling than boisterous protests, even after the speeches held in each location.

In Washington, D.C., crowds gathered outside the construction site of a new Planned Parenthood abortion facility and criticized the contractor who agreed to build it: 

One of the speakers told participants from her wheelchair that people will often cite physical anomalies as a reason for abortion. “My life rocks,” the woman, Melissa, said. “Life isn't about perfection,” for her or anyone else.

In Denver and Ann Arbor, participants report that cars carrying abortion-minded women turned around and did not return, a sign that, they hope, means that at least two babies' lives were saved.

In many locations, post-abortive mothers spoke of the lives lost to Planned Parenthood – both their babies' and their own.

Mary Taylor, president of Pro-life Utah, still remembered the painful details of the abortion she had 35 years ago, when the child was 11 weeks. “At that point in life, my baby had a heartbeat, had arms and legs,” she said.

In some areas, the primary speakers were clergy:

In many others, young people dominated. A cross-section of the nation came to speak out against abortion:

Planned Parenthood blasted the event, saying, “These protests are designed to shame the patients who seek basic health care services from Planned Parenthood and to intimidate the health care professionals who work here.”

But speakers in Boston likened the pro-life movement to the abolitionist cause that previously dominated the Northeast – and promised to have the same success.

The event will become an annual gathering, they said.

Kathy Forck of the 40 Days for Life chapter in Columbia, Missouri, said the #ProtestPP event will be held on the fourth Saturday of April ever year “until Planned Parenthood goes away.”

More photos

From Muskegon County, Michigan

From Worcester, Massachusetts