40 Daysfor Life is an international Christian not-for-profit organization that organizes campaigns against abortion in more than 60 nations worldwide. It was originally started in 2004 by members of the Brazos Valley Coalition for Life, including David Bereit and Shawn Carney. The name refers to a repeated pattern of events lasting for 40 days in the Bible, such as Noah’s Ark, Moses’s 40 days on Mount Sinai, and Jesus’s 40 days in the desert. The campaign is active in the spring during the Christian season of Lent and in the fall. According to Florida Catholic, an official Roman Catholic newspaper, more than 1,000,000 people have participated in the campaign worldwide.
History
According to Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux City, the initial 2004 local campaign was begun in reaction to the presence of a Planned Parenthood abortion facility which had opened in Bryan, Texas in 1998. ProLife 365 says that four members of the Brazos Valley Coalition for Life, including David Bereit and Shawn Carney, decided to start the prayer campaign 24 hours a day for 40 days with the goal of closing the facility, and credits this campaign for a rejuvenation of local pro-life activities in the Bryan-College Station area. Over the next two and a half years, the campaign was replicated in six other cities. In early 2007, the original 40 Days for Life leaders suggested a simultaneous nationwide 40 Days for Life campaign in as many cities as wished to participate. The first national campaign ran that fall with vigils in 89 cities in 33 U.S. states. A second national campaign was added to run during the spring of each year, starting in Lent of 2008 with campaigns in 59 cities. The spring 2009 campaign had numerous U.S. and international cities participating, including Brisbane, Australia and cities in Canada, Northern Ireland, and the United States. During the fall 2009 campaign, Abby Johnson, the director of the Planned Parenthood facility in Bryan, Texas, resigned and joined the Coalition for Life. In 2013, the Bryan Planned Parenthood closed. The building is now operated by 40 Days for Life. As of the spring 2019 campaign, more than 1,000,000 people have participated in 61 countries across all six populated continents. Approximately 19,000 churches have participated in the 6,428 local campaigns that have been held since 40 Days for Life began. The US-based Christian Broadcasting Network reports that more than 16,000 confirmed cases of abortions were stopped, Campaigns continue to be held in the spring and fall of each year.
Campaigns
A 40 Days for Life campaign consists of 40 days of prayer and fasting in shifts outside of a clinic or hospital that performs abortions or which is an abortion referral center. The campaign also involves outreach to the community to promote awareness about abortion and outreach directly to women considering abortion. Campaigns are coordinated to take place twice yearly during Lent and fall, although not all campaign locations participate every time. Internationally, the 40 Days for Life campaign is considered an American-style protest.
Opposition
Participants in the 40 Days for Life campaigns are required to sign a “Statement of Peace” stating that they will act lawfully and peacefully while participating in the campaign. Holly Baxter, a journalist for the British publication The Guardian states that the organization’s participants at the vigils are generally friendly. However, abortion-rights activists, concerned that the campaigns harass and intimidate women seeking abortion, have reacted in opposition to the 40 Days for Life campaign, including protests against 40 Days for Life such as “40 Days of Choice,” among others. An ACLU spokesperson called 40 Days for Life “the most dangerous threat to choice.” Abortion-rights activists have also pursued legal avenues such as buffer zones, especially in Canada and Europe, to prevent anti-abortion activists from approaching women or standing nearby abortion facilities. In some cases, abortion-rights activists have reacted violently against 40 Days for Life participants. The fall 2010 campaign attracted attention when a Tennessee abortion provider was arrested for brandishing a handgun at three 40 Days for Life participants demonstrating outside a South Carolina abortion facility. During the spring 2019 campaign, an 85-year-old 40 Days for Life participant in San Francisco was beaten, his sign stolen, and the incident captured on video.
