Iowa Right to Life Coordinates the Des Moines 40 Days For Life Prayer Campaigns…. Standing, holding signs that offer help and give hope, and praying during the spring dates of February 25 – March 29 on the sidewalk in front of the Planned Parenthood facility close to Drake University are people of faith and love offering better options for both the mother and the unborn at nearby faith-based Pregnancy Resource Centers. The pro-lifers pray for each person who works inside Planned Parenthood, for each person coming for appointments, and for the doors to Planned Parenthood facilities to close forever. (In Iowa the number of Planned Parenthood facilities are down from 29 to 2. Those two are in Des Moines and in Iowa City.)
Throughout the spring prayer campaign, many first timers joined, a homeschool group of seven, a Respect Life group who has been praying for years from The Basilica of St. John joined, many faithful pro-life prayer warriors standing strong joined, and on our final prayer day we were blessed by the special presence of Marlene Downing, a true pro-life champion with Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, an organization dedicated to helping pro-life candidates win elections. Marlene has become a dear friend of IRTL, and we were so grateful to have her with us.
This spring our 40 Days for Life campaign celebrated a first! Signs do make a difference! A new husband and wife team joined us; they had never stood on the sidewalk before. The wife volunteers as the first point of contact for women arriving at a local crisis pregnancy center. Today, she was standing with another volunteer when a woman, who was an hour early for her ultrasound appointment at Planned Parenthood, walked up to them. The woman saw the signs: “Ask Me About a Free Ultrasound” and “We Will Help You.” The woman who was scheduled to go into PP, did just that – she asked about a free ultrasound. The new volunteer provided her details and directed her to the crisis pregnancy center where she volunteers. The woman who had the appointment at PP, googled the crisis pregnancy center, and jumped in her car and left to go get her free ultrasound! If the woman had shown up to her appointment on time, we would not have been there. The Lord placed His right person, in the right place, at the right time! It was a marvelous feeling not only to know our presence and actions made a difference but also to know a first time volunteer experienced the power of what 40 Days for Life offers a woman willing to accept another option. The look of joy on our volunteer’s face was priceless.
Another day one of our dedicated volunteers felt led to go talk to a person protesting our presence who was holding up a sign across the street showing solidarity with PP. This young man’s approach encourages our opposition to feel comfortable talking to him. A man standing by was listening in. As our volunteer walked away from the conversation, the bystander patted our volunteer on the back, seemingly saying, “Good job and bless you, dude.”
We are so grateful to the wonderful volunteers who join us and bring their testimonies of why they are adamantly pro-life. We usually have more supportive honks than those that tell us we were number one (if you know what we mean). All in all, it makes us appreciate and thankful that we are able to do what we do, despite some negativity we receive. We count it all gain!
If you’re interested in joining us this fall, visit 40 Days for Life to learn more and watch for calendar updates. Thank you for every prayer you’ve offered on our behalf because we truly feel them!
