Priests for Life is announcing that September 14 has been set aside as a day to remember the lives of those lost in abortion. They have joined Citizens for the Pro-Life Society and the Pro-Life Action League to mark the passage of these souls with solemn prayer vigils conducted at 42 gravesites dedicated to aborted children across the country.
The date was chosen to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the burial of several hundred abortion victims in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Not only will these memorials mark the passage of these precious lives, they also call attention to the fact that most of these victims are routinely denied a proper burial.
As Priests for Life describe in their press release: "Bodies of aborted babies are disposed with medical waste and incinerated. Sometimes they are dumped into trash bins or fields. In one infamous case in California, the bodies of 16,443 aborted babies were found in a locked storage container outside a private home. A three-year court battle led by the American Civil Liberties Union ensued to prevent the babies from being granted the dignity of a proper burial. Eventually, they were laid to rest with the respect they deserved."
Sadly, similar scenarios have taken place across the country in the 40 years since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion.
“Since 1973 over 50 million unborn children have been killed and only a small fraction of these victims were humanely buried because pro-lifers took them from the trash,” said Monica Migliorino Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society. “These graves puncture the landscape and are a tragic and visible reminder that we must end the injustice of abortion. Memorial services, right at the graves of the victims, will be a powerful public witness to our nation that abortion truly kills innocent human beings, and serve as a call for justice, healing and forgiveness.”
The website AbortionMemorials.com has been established for the Sept. 14 services. There, visitors will find the heart-breaking details of many of the burials that have taken place over the decades and information on planned services. Some sites still need someone to step forward to organize a service, and those willing can find the information they need to get started.
“It's sobering to realize that grave markers for the unborn victims of abortion list only a date of burial,” said Eric Scheidler, executive director of the Pro-Life Action League. “They have no birthdays because they were never allowed to be born. We can list no date of death, because those who killed them discarded their bodies like garbage. But they are not garbage to us. They are our brothers and sisters. That's why we buried them, and that's why we visit their graves to mourn for them and testify to their humanity.”
The most recent case involves the Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s office which is refusing to allow a proper burial for babies killed – many outside the womb – by the now-imprisoned abortionist Kermit Gosnell. Priests for Life has named these babies and has requested permission to bury them, but the Medical Examiner insists the babies will be cremated, privately and unmourned.
“In the light of the trial and conviction of Kermit Gosnell and the passage by the U.S. House of Representatives, and various states, of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the reality of late-term abortion has been brought into clearer focus for the American public,” said Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life. “Awareness of that reality leads to a logical question: What is done with the bodies?
“The National Day of Remembrance builds on that question and strengthens that awareness, creating a focal point for our grief, both national and personal, and for the education of future generations. These services also will provide opportunities for an urgent call to healing after abortion for the women who have suffered from this terrible choice and the extended families left wounded in its wake.”
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