On this 46th anniversary of the legalization of abortion in America, citizens across the country are remembering the more than 60 million innocent Americans - and one billion souls worldwide - who have lost their lives in this tragic holocaust.

It only takes one glance at the appalling numbers on the Abortion Clock to realize just how horrific is the scourge of abortion in both America and abroad. In addition to the 60 million that have died since the passage of Roe v. Wade on this day in 1973, the lives of more than one billion babies were lost to abortion during the same time period.

For good reason, this day has been set aside by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) as National Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. Thousands of churches across the country will be remembering the lives cut short by abortion in special Masses and prayer services.

“Protecting the life of the unborn children is the pre-eminent human rights issue of our time, not only because of the sheer magnitude of the numbers, but because abortion attacks the sanctuary of life, the family,” wrote Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, who chairs the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the USCCB. “Every abortion not only destroys the life of an innocent child, but it wounds and scars mothers and fathers who must live with the harsh reality that they hired someone to destroy their daughter or son.”

Other pro-life organizations, such as the Christian Defense Coalition and Faith and Liberty will be honoring and remembering the 2,500 lives lost every day through abortion by gathering on the sidewalk in front of the U.S. Supreme Court at 12 noon today to pray

"We will be laying 2,500 flowers in front of the court to honor and remember the innocent children who die every day in America from abortion. We will also be praying that God will end the violence of abortion and our nation will embrace life, equality and human rights for all,” said Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition.

"We cannot be silent or indifferent on the most critical human rights and social justice issue of our time! We must continue to passionately work and pray, until abortion ends up on the scrapheap of history like slavery and segregation. We will also be asking for God's direction and guidance for the court regarding critical abortion cases that will be heard over the next year."

The first important abortion case could be heard soon as the Supreme Court deliberates whether or not to hear a case involving an Indiana law that will prohibit the termination of pregnancy for race, gender, national origin, ancestry or genetic abnormality. It also requires health care facilities to either bury or cremate embryonic or fetal tissue. If the court decides to take the case, it will be the first time the issue of abortion will come before the new court.

Sadly, the state of New York has chosen this date as the day in which they pass one of the most radical abortion bills in America. The Reproductive Health Act allows non-physicians to perform abortion, lifts the prohibition on late-term abortions and removes protections for infants born alive after these procedures. Albany’s Bishop Edward Scharfenberger called the draconian contents of this bill “abject cruelty” and “something most people of conscience would deem inhumane for even a dog or cat.”

In spite of these setbacks, the pro-life cause continues to make progress. According to Defending Life, the flagship publication of the pro-life legal group, Americans United for Life, 2018 was actually a year full of successful policy engagement and landmark victories in law and policy at both the state and federal level.

“At no point in the last four decades have we been closer to building a national consensus about the radical overreach of Roe v. Wade and the perils of a culture that allows and celebrates on-demand abortion for any reason,” said said Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO of AUL.

“Science is on our side. The law is on our side. And, as our new Defending Life report shows, so too are increasing majorities of the American people who are supporting and enacting changes protecting life across the country.”

Even more important than having science and the law on our side, however, is the fact that the Author of Life is also on our side – and with Him, we must continue to fight for every innocent human life.

“I encourage all God’s people today to pray for an end to the human rights abuse of abortion, and for a culture of life, where through God’s grace all will come to know they are made in His Divine Image,” advises Bishop Naumann. “Let us pray that we can be great and effective witnesses for life, witnesses for love, witnesses for mercy.”

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