A Huge Spiritual Battle Is Brewing In Dubuque

Over the years I have posted about the 40 Days for Life Campaigns held twice a year. These campaigns are aimed at closing down abortion clinics, saving the lives of unborn babies & converting clinic workers through prayer & fasting. A huge part of the campaign is maintaining a peaceful prayer vigil in front of the clinic, usually 24 hrs, throughout the 40 days.

According to their website, since they started in 2004:

1,894 individual campaigns have taken place in 440 cities

More than 525,000 have joined together in an historic display of unity to pray and fast for an end to abortion

More than 15,000 church congregations have participated in the 40 Days for Life campaigns

Reports document 5,928 lives that have been spared from abortion — and those are just the ones we know about

69 abortion workers have quit their jobs and walked away from the abortion industry

23 abortion facilities completely shut down following local 40 Days for Life campaigns

Hundreds of women and men have been spared from the tragic effects of abortion, including a lifetime of regrets

More than 2,100 news stories have been featured in newspapers, magazines, radio shows and TV programs from coast to coast ... and overseas

Many people with past abortion experiences have stepped forward to begin post-abortion healing and recovery

On 1 March 2012 the Planned Parenthood clinic in Storm Lake, IA closed (along with the nearby Knoxville site). This site was a location for a Fall 2011 vigil. That vigil was coordinated by Sue Thayer, who used to manage the Storm Lake site. You might also remember that Abby Johnson, a former director of  the Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, Texas. Bryan is where 40 Days started out.

As I pointed out, the vigil in front of the clinics are peaceful & prayerful. Those who are involved are expected to be peaceful. they are expected to "show compassion and reflect Christ’s love to all abortion facility employees, volunteers, and customers."

But in a sense, what they are doing is battling. The battle is spiritual & it uses spiritual weapons, prayer & fasting. Weapons that are much more effective than any violent act could every be. They are the weapons Christ told us to use. As the 40 Days site points out "Christ told us some demons can only be driven out by prayer and fasting. The two go hand in hand. Prayer keeps us rooted in the fact that it is our desire to carry out God's will. Fasting is a sacrifice that helps us reach beyond our own limitations with God's help."

Now the 40 Days campaign is coming to DBQ. 4 years ago this month Planned Parenthood of East Central Iowa opened a clinic on Central Ave in DBQ. At the time they claimed there was a huge demand for their services. From the start DBQ Co Right to Life has coordinated a peaceful presence in front of the site during the hours they were open. It wasn't too long until they cut their hours from 40 to the 17 they now operate at. It was hoped that they would close after their lease was up last August. Instead they decided to buy a building (l) @ 3365 Hillcrest Rd. so they could start offering abortions. Jill June, CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland who now operates it, has made it clear that she things she can outlast us, despite all the evidence to the contrary. The new site has not seen either an increase in hours or clients since moving out there. Up to now they have not officially offered abortions at the site. But by sometime in the middle of September, they will be officially providing telemed abortions.

So DCRTL has decided it is time to step up to the next level in the fight to get Planned Parenthood out of town. So this Fall there will be a 40 Days campaign in DBQ. The dates are 26 Septemebr to 4 November.

But there is much more to it than people just showing up & praying. Yes volunteers are needed. Anyone who wants to can go to the DBQ webpage to sign up. So if you are in the DBQ area, please do. If not, but you know someone here, encourage them to get involved.

There will be a community outreach program. In addition, there will be several events put on. Among those events will be a kick-off rally planned for the 23 of September. This is in its early stages of planning, so I don't have any definite details. There will also be a Mass on the 25th & other events as well. I am the person coordinating the events so please keep me in your prayers as well.

Please pray for the success of the campaign so that by 5 November Planned Parenthood is permanently out of DBQ. I want it to close on the 1st day, 26 Sept because that would make the perfect birthday present for me. But any time during the campaign will be fine.