SALT LAKE CITY — A large pro-life group of people from throughout the Diocese of Salt Lake City gathered Jan. 22, at the Monument for Unborn Children in Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery to pray the rosary for unborn and aborted babies. The group met in combination with the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and the 33rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, to pray for women faced with unplanned pregnancies, that they may choose life. The Family Life Office of the Diocese of Salt Lake sponsored this event. Veola Burchett, director, said, "Hopefully progress is being made through your work and prayers, and people are realizing the tragedy of Roe v. Wade. According to the Right to Life Web site, approximately 1.5 million abortions occur annually in the United States, 88 percent of abortions occur during the first six to 12 weeks of pregnancy, 60 percent are performed on women who already have one or more children, and 47 percent are performed on women who have already had one or more abortion(s). Every day 4,000 abortions are performed, which is one baby killed every 20 seconds. There have been over 40 million abortions since 1973. In a Dec. 31, article in the Salt Lake Tribune on stem cell research, Pope Benedict XVI is quoted as saying "the embryo is a full and complete human being." Statistics about the development of a fetus show the baby’s heart begins to beat 21 days after conception, at 35 days the baby’s fingers are formed, at 10 weeks the baby can make a fist and suck his or her thumb, at four months facial features are present, and at five months, with special care, the baby can survive outside the womb. "We are a pro-life Church," said Burchett. "Our diocese is sponsoring the Gabriel Project, which is a parish-based program designed to assist young girls and women with an unplanned pregnancy. We are hoping to make people in our parishes available to young girls and women who are pregnant and in need of assistance, and most importantly, to be there to pray for and with them. "Those who are trained in the Gabriel Project will befriend pregnant girls and women and guide them toward abortion alternatives available in Utah," said Burchett. Throughout the United States there are 3,000 crisis pregnancy centers staffed by volunteers who offer a full range of services to help women obtain housing, maternity and baby clothes, baby equipment, pre- and post natal medical care, legal assistance and financial support, information about adoption, and advice on how a woman in school can continue her education. Women can call 1-800-848-5683 anytime, day or night, to find the nearest crisis pregnancy center in their area. A group from the Militia Immaculata also met to pray the rosary in honor of St. Maximilian Kolbe, the patron saint of the pro-life movement. St. Maximilian Kolbe is the patron saint of the Militia Immaculata. He was a priest who gave up his life in the concentration camp of Auschwitz, Poland, for a man who had a family. For more information on the Gabriel Project, call Veola Burchett in the Family Life Office at (801) 328-8641, ext. 324.
Stay Connected With Us