Hundreds commit to join downtown prayer vigil

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

Amid the busyness of Bank Street, downtown, everyone hurries about their business. Bureaucrats rush to meetings, tourists shuffle toward Parliament, and the corner of Bank and Queen is rarely without a student running to catch a bus. Every fall, however, one group is different. This group stands silently amid the hubbub and while they may seem idle, their purpose and message are saving lives.

“Our focus is to pray to end abortion,” explains Wanda Hartlin, Coordinator for 40 Days For Life Ottawa. “Abortion is a tragedy for the people who are personally affected and for our country. The repercussions are there, but a lot of people in our culture don’t realize that a human life is being destroyed through abortion. They believe what the media says, that it is a clump of cells, that it is a convenient termination of a pregnancy, but what is pregnancy? You are carrying a baby.”

Pro-life advocacy takes many forms, some more controversial than others, but each bearing fruit in different ways. 40 Days for Life is possibly the easiest initiation into the pro-life world. There are no graphic pictures; there’s no debate. Participants just gather in one-hour shifts for a public witness as they pray that God would protect innocent life.

This fall’s campaign runs from September 26 to November 4.

“On the way out, their faces are very sad.”Photo by Paul Lauzon.

“A legitimate campaign is at least 12 hours a day, so we go from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” Hartlin says. “We have about 700 people who have volunteered to come. They don’t all come at once, sometimes there will be a group of people, sometimes there will be just one brave soul, but for the 480 hours we have committed to pray, most of the time there is someone there.”

The movement started with just four Americans, in 2004. They decided to gather and pray outside an abortion clinic, around the clock, for 40 days. Their season of consecration inspired groups in other cities and it became a movement, with Ottawa joining by the fourth year. The campaign this fall will see more than 400 cities with dedicated groups praying outside abortion clinics at least 12 hours a day. For those interested, Hartlin says the best way to connect is through the 40 Days for Life website.

“You don’t have to bring anything. We have signs that say ‘Pray for an end to abortion.’ There are also prayer cards that people can use, Bibles, and rosaries for the Catholics.”

Last year, Ontario passed sweeping “bubble-zone” legislation, making it illegal to “disapprove … issues related to abortion” within 150 meters of an abortion clinic. So, while the group can’t meet in their usual place across the street from the Bank Street clinic, they plan to gather at the corner of Bank and Queen.

“My daughter is here, she is 3 years old, and it is because of you standing there that I changed my mind.” Photo by Paul Lauzon.

“Even though it is a different location, it is a good location for visibility. Maybe we will be able to reach people going by on Queen Street who would have never seen us when we were on Bank.”

On top of prayer, the gathering serves as a public reminder of the harms of abortion, says Paul Lauzon, a researcher with Campaign Life Coalition. Lauzon has been involved with 40 Days for Life since it first came to Ottawa, a decade ago.

“It is a great witness, especially here in Ottawa. The fact that we have an abortuary on Bank Street, nobody knows that it is there. People ask what we are doing and they become aware that there is an abortion clinic there doing 3,000 abortions every year. I think it is important that it does not go unnoticed.”

Sometimes, Lauzon says, women heading to or from the clinic stop to ask them questions.

“We usually don’t know, but just one life is enough.”

“We offer help when we can, whatever they need. It is quite something to walk into a place, not knowing what will happen, you walk in pregnant and you walk out not pregnant anymore. That’s when they need more help and more prayers. On the way out, their faces are very sad.”

Hartlin says occasionally passers-by are angry, but the devout group are not there to be confrontational.

“If someone yells at you as they walk by, then they are gone. It is usually just a comment in passing. We do get a lot of positive comments, as well.”

“Some women have come and said, ‘My daughter is here, she is 3 years old, and it is because of you standing there that I changed my mind.’” Lauzon states. “We usually don’t know, but just one life is enough. It is very rewarding to know that some women are now happy to have a child because they saw someone outside, changed their minds, and the child is alive. It is worth the whole thing.”