Christian advocacy group, the Love March Movement, has partnered with 40 Days for Life, an international prayer organisation to start a prayer vigil along Ivy Green Crescent in Kingston.
The vigil, which is for 40 days, started on February 14 and is from 8 a.m to 8 p.m. each day until March 24. The groups are appealing to those who want to join the effort to save lives to sign up and indicate the time they can participate in the vigil.
“To our shame, abortion in Jamaica is a thriving industry with between 28 and 60 abortions taking place each day,” said president of the Love March Movement, Dr. Daniel Thomas, who cited statistics from the Caribbean Policy Research Institute.
“We felt the call to pray and fast about this very serious issue and want to help women who are in crisis pregnancies to choose life. We will be praying and giving out flyers and hoping to pray for women in crisis to help meet their spiritual, emotional and physical needs,” he told Freedom Come Rain.
The international prayer organisation, 40 Days for Life, has hosted prayer vigils outside abortion facilities and neutral locations in over 9000 cities and over 70 countries over the last 20 years. They are featured prominently in the Movie Unplanned, which was screened in Jamaica a few years ago.
The aim of the local campaign is to bring together the body of Christ in a spirit of unity for 40 days for prayer, fasting, and the peaceful vigil.
“It has never been done in Jamaica, so naturally persons are cautious, but many are excited to pray and fast about this issue and also to share resources that will help women in crisis pregnancies. Many persons are encouraged by the practical nature of sharing numbers that can be called, and providing encouragement to women who find themselves in this heartbreaking situation,” Dr. Thomas said.
The pro-life advocate, assured that organisations like Pro-life Jamaica and Holy Innocents in Kingston, stand ready to assist women in crisis pregnancies who are considering abortion and appealed to pregnant women to not harm their baby. There is also help for women who have already done abortions and are in need of emotional healing. Both groups of women can visit prolifejamaica.com for a list of resources or email [email protected].
Dr. Thomas said the team is excited and is looking forward to seeing what God will do.
“It is important for persons to join this cause because Jamaica is drowning in the blood of the innocent. If we are to be the place to live, we must cherish the weak and fight to protect our most vulnerable, the unborn children,” he said.
Abortion is currently illegal in Jamaica, except in some cases of medical emergency, but there has been intense push to allow it for crisis situations, such as in cases where there is rape, incest or where the woman’s life is in danger.
“Abortion is the deliberate killing of a child in the womb. This is never a good and helpful thing. In every case, abortion traumatises women and kills children. Especially in the case of rape, abortion should be ruled out, because it adds trauma to trauma; that’s what the research shows. What we need to do is offer solutions that don’t harm people, enhance our counseling services, offer practical and emotional support and develop systems that truly help born and unborn women to live,” said Dr Thomas.
Persons wishing to join the prayer vigil can send a message to lovemarchmovement.com.
