Nearly 350 babies saved from abortion during 40 Days for Life

by John Jalsevac

A group of young 40 Days participants in North Seattle, Washington.

April 11, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The spring 2011 40 Days for Life campaign has now entered its 34th day, and with just a week left to go, stories of the incredible fruits of the international pro-life initiative are pouring in.

The 40 Days for Life website displays a ticker in the top-right hand corner that is regularly updated to show the number of babies that have been saved from abortion during the current campaign. As Shawn Carney, the board treasurer for 40 Days for Life reported on Monday, that number has climbed to 346 in the past four and a half weeks.

“There are miracles happening every day at 40 Days for Life locations near and far,” said Carney in his Monday update.

Carney recounted several stories, including one that happened in Orange County California. A 40 Days volunteer by the name of Alejandra there reports that a pregnant woman who was going into the local Planned Parenthood told her that her doctor was concerned that she would have a baby with deformities, and that, due to her diabetes, the best option would be to abort.

But after talking with the 40 Days volunteers, the woman changed her mind. “What a difference,” the young mother reportedly told Alejandra. “The people here are warm, caring and friendly. You are treated like a person — unlike at Planned Parenthood.”

In Lakeland, Florida, pro-life witnesses were recently given the opportunity to meet a baby that had been spared from abortion thanks to their efforts in a previous campaign. Carney relates that a woman parked her car near the 40 Days vigil site, and a woman got out carrying a little girl.

The woman explained that her daughter had been scheduled to have an abortion, but that after she arrived at the Planned Parenthood and saw the pro-life witnesses, she changed her mind, and later gave birth to the woman’s granddaughter.

“God hears your prayers. He saved this precious little girl — my granddaughter. She is living proof!” the woman told the 40 Days participants.

But the positive effects of 40 Days for Life aren’t confined only to babies and mothers being spared from abortion.

The 40 Days website is full of incredible stories of abortion facilities shutting down, abortion workers walking away from their jobs, and people being touched in myriad ways by the 40 Days campaign.

In one case in La Puente, California, a young mother was given the freedom to speak about her post-abortion grief, and experienced a strange, and life-affirming coincidence.

While a 40 Days for Life volunteer was praying with her daughter at the vigil in La Puente, a young mom came by “with the most gorgeous baby,” according to the volunteer. The woman told the volunteer that prior to the child’s arrival she had an abortion.

“It took me eight years wanting another child,” she said. “But I wasn’t able to conceive. Then one day, I passed by the abortion clinic and noticed the 40 Days for Life campaign. I told my elder sons, ‘We’re going to pray.’ A few months later, I was expecting my third child.”

The young mom’s family would tell her, “Be quiet! You can never talk about your abortion!” But now, she says, “After eight years I will no longer keep quiet. Although I didn’t save my baby, I can help save the lives of babies to come.”