"In this form of life defence we see a large hope of stopping abortion in Poland. Our mission is to pray not for a legal ban on abortion, but for society not to want abortion. (...) We want people to realize that all man's life is worth something,” says Elijah Grubinski, run coordinator for “40 Days for Life”.
The initiative “40 days for Life” brings together 66 countries in the world, and late Poland. How did you experience that time?
The 40 Days for Life campaign, which we ended last weekend, is our 3rd campaign. We were at St. Anne's Church in Krakowskie Przedmieście in Warsaw. At the beginning, less people became involved, possibly the consequence of oversaturating the public debate with the subject of abortion, but erstwhile the Abortion Dream squad announced its intention to open the first abortion facility in Poland, the number of volunteers increased.
"40 Days for Life" is based on prayer and fasting in the intention of ending abortion in Poland and in circumstantial intentions. Our prayers included not only children at hazard of abortion, but besides their mothers, and those who are surrounded by these women and influence their attitude. A mother’s decision to save a child’s life or to have an abortion is frequently the consequence of her being supported or left unassisted.
What was the reaction of passers-by volunteers “40 Days for Life”?
The language of communication that is characteristic of the action “40 Days for Life is the language of empathy. We don't stigmatize or judge. We are trying to scope out to women who are supporters of abortion or have already aborted their kid and have a conversation with them. We come out with slogans affirming life and emphasizing the beauty of motherhood, with images of joyful and smiling children. This affirmative message causes more reactions of interest, curiosity, than aggression towards us. Many people were making conversation, and there were those who disagreed with us, but inactive were able to enter into discussion. But the reactions were different. I think a lot depends on the passwords we've displayed. erstwhile we appeared with banners calling for an abortion to end in Poland, it provoked many people. Sometimes we met with any kind of resentment, negative comments, and sometimes with any form of aggression. A fewer times, individual yelled at us or spit. Fortunately, there were no major attacks.
Is any conversation or gathering in your memory?
This event took place during the erstwhile run "40 Days for Life". There was a boy who wanted to ask us a question. At first he said he supported the alleged abortion on request until the child's 12th week. We started talking. The longer we talked, the more I saw his transformation. Turns out he didn't know many things about abortion, he didn't think about others. And after a conversation that lasted half an hour, he left, thanking. He stated that, however, he changed his head about abortion and, although he may not be her ardent opponent, he felt that abortion on request was a horror and better not to be. There was a change in this young man. These are the fruits of the 40 Days for Life campaign.
What is the importance of specified a form of testimony? You mentioned that 1 crucial issue is this spiritual dimension, prayer and fasting.
Prayer and fasting are of large importance and bear large fruit. In the 40 Days for Life campaign, it is crucial to go into public space with a affirmative message and conversation. A description of this form of pro-life activity, which was adopted by the run “40 Days for Life” can be found in 2 American publications. We are in the process of preparing a translation of 1 of them entitled “What to say when”. Both books address empathic ways of discussing abortion. The 40 Days for Life initiative around the planet is based on this form of communication. Inventors of the action discovered that if we put empathy and concern not only for the life of the child, but besides for a female who is in difficulties – and women are frequently lost, left without help, then we meet with a response.
We see that the 40 Days for Life run is bearing fruit and reflects in more than 25 000 children saved from abortion, as is documented in statistics. In addition, more than 150 abortion facilities worldwide have been closed thanks to the 40 Days for Life activity. We besides know the communicative of Abby Johnson, the erstwhile manager of 1 of the abortion clinics who resigned from the center, joined the pro-life initiative and present is 1 of the biggest ambassadors of the run against abortion.
The fact is, abortion is murder, but erstwhile this message is based on the communicative of life defence, women feel attacked. And we have been touched by the empathic approach to this issue, and I think it is bringing much more affirmative results. In this form of life defence we see a large hope of stopping abortion in our country. It seems to me that in Poland we met with this approach to a lesser extent, so we wanted to make this space and scope women to whom possibly another form of communication would not reach.
Were volunteers willing to make specified a public witness?
I think there is something in our nation, possibly in the human nature, which makes it much easier for us to engage in various forms of protest accompanied by expressive slogans. Our initiative was more focused on prayer, on vigils and on a quiet conversation than on the form of manifestations, which made it much harder for us to mobilise volunteers. However, these difficulties are included in specified initiatives. If we look at the 40 Days for Life run in the United States or Croatia, where they are active, we will see that respective to respective people come to the vigil. A larger number of volunteers appear in the first days and at the end of the campaign. I believe that less volunteers give more opportunities, freedom of contact to those women who are considering abortion and want to talk. A larger number of people could be overwhelming, which could discourage contact and questions.
When we held a vigil at St. Anne's Church in Krakowskie Przedmieście, we were joined by young people from different countries who came to Poland for studies and joined the pastoral ministry with St. Anna. They came with the nuns and prayed with us. Initially, he may have pleasant fears, due to the fact that however, specified public prayer is besides a form of exiting his comfort zone. However, as time passes, this evidence is not difficult.
What are the further plans for the 40 Days for Life campaign? Are you going to proceed active in this expression and pray for a ban on abortion or, in fact, for full protection of life?
We're planning further action. erstwhile the abortion centre in Warsaw is opened, we will pray before this facility. All 40 Days for Life campaigns are held under abortion centres. Fortunately, there has not been specified a facility in Poland so far, so we prayed in a public place, but if it arises, then we will surely conduct prayer there. And I hope quite a few people will join us. We invitation you to this initiative all environments that are close to protecting life.
And I will address 1 more issue. Sometimes individual accuses us of wanting a legal ban on abortion. I would like to emphasise that our mission is to pray not for a legal ban on abortion, but for society not to want abortion, for people to realize that all man's life has value, is protected, and that it is worth caring about the lives of the youngest, yet unborn, helpless children. We would like abortion not to happen not due to the fact that it will be banned, but due to the fact that society will not want it.
Finally, how did the 40 Days for Life initiative go to Poland?
The "40 Days for Life" run was launched by a group of friends who formed the Life Love Association. We didn't all know each another before, but we were connected by love for pro-life. And the impulse to take action was to repeal Roe v. Wade's ruling in the United States in 2022, which was a large case. After announcing this decision, many of us attended the Holy Mass, after which we met at an interview. It became the beginning of a joint action. “40 Days for Life” has inspired us, so a year and a half ago we organized a conference in Warsaw, which we invited representatives of this initiative. This is how the run “40 Days for Life” started in Poland, although there was no abortion centre. But we felt that it was better to prevent it than to take action only erstwhile it arose. I didn't think it would happen so soon. This shows, however, that public prayer initiatives are besides needed in our country. Today, “40 Days for Life” is already creating a lot more people from different communities, including Protestants and secular organizations.
Where you can get information about future initiatives "40 Days for Life" and opportunities to join you?
We invitation you to visit our website 40dnidlazycia.org and our social media, where we inform you about the run activities "40 Days for LifeIt’s okay. ”
Thank you for talking to me.
Agnieszka Player
