Pro-life leaders in Alabama are planning to gather in Birmingham on Saturday in support of the unborn.
Saturday, January 17, at 10:45 AM, leaders and citizens from across the city will gather to pray while also preparing for new pro-life efforts at the annual Prayer Vigil & Witness for Life in front of Planned Parenthood, located at 1019 1st Ave N.
In 2022 Alabama’s Alabama’s Human Life Protection Act almost immediately went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The law effectively banns abortion at every stage with a few narrow exceptions for life of the mother and lethal fetal anomaly. It was also supported by a 2018 constitutional amendment that recognizes the unborn child as a person, Alabama has one of the strongest pro-life laws in the nation.
Of the few licensed abortion clinics that were left in the state when Dobbs was handed down, those that remain in operation function only as “health centers,” including Planned Parenthood Birmingham.
Attorney Eric Johnston, author of the Human Life Protection Act, will speak at Saturday’s Vigil, and believes that more work still needs to be done in the state to protect unborn children.
“For 2024, the Alabama Department of Public Health reported only three abortions in Alabama,” Johnston said.
“However, that does not account for those done without physician supervision by abortifacients through the mail. We believe there may be as many as 3,000 a year. Several states are testing various laws to prohibit this. This coming session, the Alabama Legislature will have an opportunity to prohibit these sales by internet regulation.”
“The Alabama pro-life community has sought to protect women’s health, such as the Women’s Right to Know Act passed while Roe v. Wade still permitted abortions,” he added.
“Last year the state appropriated $850,000 for pregnancy resource centers, which we will request again this year. We will continue to save the lives of the unborn and help women and families facing difficult choices.”
Jim Pinto, one of the main organizers for the vigil and a long-time pro-life advocate, agrees with Johnston on the issue.
“We must remain vigilant for life as workaround chemical abortions are taking place in Alabama and the pro-death movement has won many state victories with pro-abortion amendments/enactments – This must not take place in our pro-life state.”
The Prayer Vigil is co-hosted by Birmingham March for Life, United for Life, and CEC For Life, but many other pro-life organizations and local churches will be represented at the event.
There will be a time of worship and celebration coupled with special prayers for the many preborn children in this nation still lacking basic protections in other states. Fr. Terry Gensemer of CEC For Life will emcee the event and assist in leading these prayers.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
