40-day, round-the-clock vigil will protest abortion

For the next 39 days, a group of Catholics and Protestants will gather around the clock on a sidewalk outside a Planned Parenthood office to protest abortion.

The vigil began at 12:01 a.m. on Ash Wednesday, when the Rev. Bill Carmody prayed outside Planned Parenthood at 1330 W. Colorado Ave. Two or more protesters plan to be there on a rotating schedule to pray, read biblical verses and talk to women arriving for appointments.

“We find this issue so important that we are willing to sacrifice and be here at 1 in the morning praying for them,” said Carmody, Respect Life director for the Catholic Diocese of Colorado Springs. “We want conversion. We are not about condemnation.”

Members of about a dozen Catholic parishes and several Protestant congregations have said they will take part in the vigil, called Forty Days for Life. It’s the first of its kind in Colorado Springs and the second in the state.

The protest includes a plan to hand out anti-abortion materials door-to-door throughout the city.

Jody Berger, communications director of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said the office has no plans to take special precautions while the protest is going on.

She said previous protests have been peaceful, and the participants stayed off Planned Parenthood’s property in accordance with a state “bubble law.” The law prohibits protesters from coming within 100 feet of the entrance of medical facilities and within 8 feet of their clients.

Though the vigil is timed to Lent, traditionally a Catholic observance marked by sacrifice and introspection, Protestant protesters say it transcends denominational differences.

“Our church believes in fasting and prayer, and that’s what Lent comes down to,” said Joel Patchen, a member of the nondenominational Mountain Springs Church.

Forty Days for Life was started in 2004 by the Coalition for Life in College Station, Texas. Last fall, the observance was held in 31 states in 59 cities, including Durango.

Abortions fell dramatically during some vigils, said David Bereit, former director of the Coalition for Life. Berger, however, denies the 40-day vigil outside the Durango clinic last fall reduced abortions.

“The need for our services remained consistent over that time,” Berger said. “Pickets and protests do not reduce the need for abortion. Sex education and contraception do.”

Berger would like to see all church leaders join with Planned Parenthood to promote sex education and the use of contraception as a way to reduce abortions.

Carmody scoffed at the idea.

“Of course they want to promote contraception,” he said. “It’s good for their business. I promote chastity.”

Among the vigil volunteers is Evelyn French, who attends Our Lady of the Pines. Though the 86-year-old wears a leg brace and uses a walker, she plans to spend time outside the clinic reciting the rosary.

“We have to be the voice for those who are not allowed to speak,” French said.