The heavy wooden doors of the building had a sign warning, “No Soliciting, No Trespassing.” The door opened and a woman came out, sobbing and weeping uncontrollably. As she looked toward the high iron fence surrounding the parking lot in front of the building, a woman standing on the sidewalk held up a sign, “Jesus Forgives and Heals.” Looking away, the weeping woman ignored the offer of prayer and got into a waiting car, intensely purposing to avoid looking at the sign or the woman holding it.
A powerful local influence
This incident occurred during a 40 Days for Life campaign in Fort Lauderdale last spring. During the 40 day campaign, volunteers stood praying in front of one of Broward County’s busiest abortion centers, the All Women’s Center at 2100 East Commercial Boulevard.
Incidents like these are the norm during these prayer vigils. But that does not deter those standing praying, for once in a while there will be an opportunity to speak with someone through the iron fence. On one occasion, a car pulled into the parking lot and a woman got out and quickly walked toward the heavy wooden doors, but the driver lingered. Pausing, he listened as a vigil volunteer shared words of hope and healing, and the possibility of new life in Jesus Christ. Bowing his head, he prayed with her to receive that new life.
On another occasion, a couple came out of the abortion center and told the man and woman standing on the sidewalk praying that their presence had made them decide not to abort their baby.
40 Days for Life
Starting September 25, 2013, prayer vigils were again launched in front of abortion centers across America. For forty days, vigil volunteers will be praying that these abortion centers will close, that women will decide not to abort their babies, and that those who have will find hope and healing through Jesus Christ.
Here in Broward County, where 33 babies are aborted every day—more than 12,000 a year—the focus of the current 40 Days for Life prayer vigil is the Fort Lauderdale Women’s Center at 2001 West Oakland Park Boulevard. This abortion center is one of five owned by late-term abortionist, James Pendergraft. Pendergraft has had his license suspended five times in Florida, most recently in April when he failed to pay fines related to a former license suspension for an illegal third-trimester abortion.
Pendergraft has also spent time in prison. In 2001, he was convicted of fraudulently accusing a Marion County, Florida official of threatening him and later demanding millions of dollars from the county. He was sentenced to more than 3 years in prison, but was released after serving only seven months of his sentence.
“As long as a fetus still has a heartbeat”
Florida law does not allow abortions beyond the 24th week of pregnancy. But Pendergraft states on his website, LateTermAbortion.net, “It is my hope to one day challenge the unconstitutionality of a law that requires procedures after 24 weeks to be performed in a hospital when there are no hospitals in Florida that allow a termination procedure to be performed as long as a fetus still has a heartbeat.”
When performing his late-term abortions, Pendergraft uses an “intracardiac injection of medication into the fetal heart” to stop the baby’s heart from beating. Then, as he states on his website, “once the fetal heart beat has stopped, the patient can elect to return back to her private physician to complete the induction of labor with delivery of the fetus, or they may elect to go to another facility to have the termination process completed.”
Until his abortion business was scrutinized in an undercover investigation by Operation Rescue, Pendergraft was performing these types of late-term abortions at his facility in Maryland. The investigators discovered that Pendergraft was working illegally in Maryland with another abortionist, Harold O. Alexander, performing late-term abortions, while his license was under suspension in Florida. When Operation Rescue filed complaints, Alexander was disciplined for destroying patient records related to the business and it was closed down.
Clinics are closing
The 40 Days for Life campaigns are not using undercover investigations to close down illegal operations, but they are successfully seeing the closing of abortion businesses across the country. God is answering the prayers of those faithfully standing and praying in front of these centers. A Planned Parenthood location in College Station/Bryan, Texas, where 40 Days for Life began in 2004, closed in August after years of prayerful vigils outside the facility. To date, 40 Days for Life has held 480 campaigns in 501 cities, and 7,536 babies’ lives have been saved, 83 workers have quit, and 39 abortion centers have closed.
God is answering the prayers of his people to end abortion.
For more information about the Fort Lauderdale 40 Days for Life campaign, go to 40daysforlife.com/fortlauderdale.
Comments