40 Days For Life, Oakville Fall vigil
Following from the success of the first 40 Days For Life vigil at the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, the next will be held from September 28 to November 6, as part of the biggest network of vigils yet held across the world. The vigil consists of 40 days of prayer and fasting, 40 days of peaceful vigil outside the hospital, and 40 days of community outreach
The vigil will be launched with a kick-off rally on Wednesday, September 14th at 7pm, at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 1494 Wallace Road (east of Third Line off Speers Road). Keynote speaker Teresa Hartnett, chair of the Sexual Health Network (a committee of social and public health in Hamilton) and director of Project Rachel, will talk about what women go through to make the decision to have an abortion and the after effects of abortion. Project Rachel assists women who are experiencing difficulty after abortion.
The first Oakville vigil, from March 9 to April 17 this year, demonstrated how powerful it can be at raising awareness of abortion in the community. The volunteers standing outside the hospital holding signs attracted attention from the many members of the public constantly entering and leaving the facility or driving along Reynolds Street.
The Oakville Beaver gave the vigil repeated coverage, with photographs of people and their signs that were clearly legible in the pictures. A news story about the kick-off rally quoted Angelina Steenstra and Julia Szumowski, both of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, who spoke about “the devastating aftermath of their own abortions,” and reported that the Campaign “is an organization of women who have had abortions and are now speaking out about the effects.”
More than once, people spoke to volunteers to confirm that abortions are indeed performed in the hospital, including one woman who had had the procedure in the facility. (Vigil organizers had ascertained beforehand that the hospital performs abortions.) One hospital staff member member had been unaware of the abortions until told about them by the vigil.
Oakville will be one of 10 Canadian cities holding vigils as part of the biggest international 40 Days For Life ever. The vigils are soaring in popularity and influence around the globe. Since just the March and April vigil this year, they have burgeoned by nearly 20 percent to 296 locations.
Shawn Carney, the overall campaign director, 40 Days for Life, has invited pro-lifers to join this record-breaking chain of vigils and “make history.”
The 40 Days For Life Oakville website has some useful resource information, including links to trailers for pro-life movies. Please visit it at http://www.40daysforlife.com/oakville/