Summer of Mercy 2.0

I wanted to post information about an upcoming local nine-day event co-sponsored by my church called "Summer of Mercy 2.0." The purpose of Summer of Mercy is for people who care about life to come together to fast, pray, and take a public stand against abortion, and in particular against the horrific form of late-term abortion practiced by Leroy Carhart in Germantown, MD. As noted earlier on this blog, Carhart kills viable babies up to ninth month of pregnancy. Today (July 20) and next Wednesday (July 27) are days of fasting and prayer in preparation for the event. Next Saturday, July 30, Summer of Mercy kicks off with a 7:00 pm rally at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg featuring a live ultrasound presentation and several speakers. There will be a second rally on July 31 with a youth emphasis. Then, from August 1 through August 5, there will be daily prayer at 8:00 am and noon and evening prayer rallies outside of Carhart's clinic. On August 6 there will be another meeting at Covenant Life Church at 7:00 pm. The event will close with a day of fasting on August 7 and a final big Cross 4 Life Prayer event outside of Carhart's clinic.

Operation Rescue President Troy Newman: "We sense a critical need to gather in Germantown to expose the horrific late-term abortion business of LeRoy Carhart, to prayerfully intervene on behalf of the babies that are scheduled to die, and to provide a peaceful yet powerful pro-life witness to the nation.... Now is the time for us to embrace the cross and walk in radical obedience unto the Lord. Our desire is to see a sovereign God powerfully move, shift history, bring awakening to our nation and end abortion."

My pastor, Charlie Baile: "We have seen many pro-life victories in this past year and are praying for a big tipping point for a Pro-Life America. Fetal pain laws are now being passed in many states due to the scientific proof that unborn children do indeed feel pain in the womb. As the technology of ultrasounds continues to improve, the heinous acts of abortion are being exposed. As post-abortive woman come out of the shadows and share their heartache and pain, it is plain for all to see that women know instinctively that killing their offspring is awful to live with. They need our prayers, Christian love, and forgiveness found at the cross of Jesus Christ.

"The pro-choice activists have sensed the growing swell of pro-life concern in Germantown, MD and they are putting all of their energies this summer into what they are calling the “Summer of Choice”. They are calling for the greatest pro-choice demonstration in history to come to Germantown and show their support for their hero, Dr. Leroy Carhart. They have borrowed our idea of a prayer walk and they are doing their own walk on Sunday afternoon, July 31st to raise monies for those who cannot afford their abortion. They are planning counter demonstrations during the Summer of Mercy dates. I want to appeal to you to come and be an advocate for the children at risk in the womb. 1/3 of our current generation has been killed off through this holocaust of abortion."

Germantown, MD, a mere 15 minutes from my home, has become Ground Zero in the battle over abortion in this country. Since this is happening in my backyard, I want to be involved in this event. To you my readers: I truly hope that if you live in the area, you consider attending at least some of the events or meetings. If you are unable to do so, at least you can stand with us in prayer for the countless victims of abortion (both mothers and babies) and for God to change hearts and minds on this crucial issue.

For more information, please check out the website at http://summerofmercy.com.

Germantown Press Conference

Here is the link to the press release regarding the state medical board's investigation into abortionist Leroy Carhart. There was a press conference and prayer vigil in Germantown this morning.

Germantown clinic update

Quite a bit has been happening lately in Germantown! The Maryland Coalition for Life is now leasing an office space directly across from abortionist Leroy Carhart's clinic. See pictures here. The space is intended to be a Resource and Referral Center for both undecided and post-abortive women. The center will be working with and referring women to the Rockville and Shady Grove Pregancy Centers. Training for receptionists is being held this coming Sunday.

40 Days for Life is continuing to ensure a peaceful and prayerful pro-life presence outside the abortion clinic. Apparently Leroy Carhart has now begun performing abortions on Sunday evenings, possibly to avoid the constant pro-life presence that 40 Days for Life has provided. Ironically (or Providentially), his procedures last Sunday evening just "happened" to coincide with the candlelight vigil celebrating the mid-way point of 40 Days for Life! There will be another candlelight vigil this coming Sunday from 8pm to midnight.

Here is a Gazette article about the new rental space. Given the Gazette's usual slanted coverage, I have been impressed with the balance I have seen in their past couple articles on the abortion debate in Germantown. ABC Channel 7 news also covered the story (you'll see two of my pastors at the beginning of the video). I understand the interviewer was surprised at their inability to find anyone from the office park, from Carhart's office, or from NARAL to interview for the pro-abortion perspective on their story (though there was a statement from a national abortion organization in the coverage). Donations are being accepted here to pay for the expenses of running the Resource and Referral Center in Germantown.

There is much more going on surrounding this issue, including legislation in Annapolis, than I can go into at the moment. I am amazed at the response to Carhart's move to Germantown in December, and that this movement continues to build momentum. There are so many wonderful people behind this effort to save the lives of the unborn. May God continue to work and be glorified through all of those involved in this debate, in their words, actions and presence.

Update on Yesterday's Prayer Vigil

I wanted to give my readers an update on the press conference and prayer vigil from yesterday. There was a large crowd of people there -- especially impressive given the fact that there was only 72 hours notice. The Washington Post reported 300 people, but I think the number was significantly higher than that. (Remember the big Tea Party protest in Washington DC last year that drew 300,000 - 500,000 or more people? The Washington Post reported that "tens of thousands of people" showed up.) My sister-in-law counted around 600 people during the prayer walk, and a number of people including myself had already left by that time. I saw 30 people from my church there, and there were probably more I didn't see. There were also a few counter-protestors -- probably no more than 30 or so. Many of them were holding signs saying "Pro-Child, Pro-Faith, Pro-Choice. Come on, didn't you know that sending a healthy baby into fatal cardiac arrest is GOOD for the baby?

Rev. Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition started the rally by asking everyone to kneel and pray, reminding us that we come in humility to plead for God's mercy. Throughout the event, I was impressed with the spirit of the attendees. There were no violent signs or angry rhetoric. Several of the speakers emphasized God's love for both mother and baby and His offer of forgiveness to women who had had abortions. The event was carefully coordinated with the police to ensure that there were no disruptions and that everything was peaceful. We were there not so much because we are against something but because we are for something -- something precious and valuable. We stand for life and for the protection of innocent children. It was encouraging to stand alongside so many other like-minded people.

Several local pastors, including my own, spoke briefly. Two of the speeches that touched my heart the most were from women. One was a Catholic woman who had held a prayer vigil with her two children outside the Germantown abortion clinic every Friday for four years. She had been toiling alone for years, and you could see how much it meant to her to finally see the Christian community mobilized. Another powerful speech was from a woman who had a late-term abortion when she was 14 years old. Her abortionist was George Tiller, a close associate of Leroy Carhart's. She deeply regrets her decision to kill her healthy baby and has become a pro-life advocate.

After the speeches there was a brief question-and-answer session with the press, and then the crowd walked around the shopping center, praying alone or in small groups. The center was cordoned off with yellow tape, which Mahoney noted was significant. After all, the police use yellow tape to denote a crime scene.

While it was encouraging to see such a large turnout, this rally is just the beginning, as several speakers noted. We had held out hope that the board of directors of the condo association that runs the shopping center would decide to kick Carhart and his clinic out of the shopping center during their emergency meeting yesterday, but apparently they decided they did not have a legal option to do so. We have to continue to keep the pressure on Leroy Carhart and his clinic and make it clear that we are not going away. My pastor said that we have a four-pronged strategy to fight this evil: continuing prayer, continuing protests, opening up a pregnancy center in a vacant building across the street from the clinic, and working to pass legislation to ban late-term abortions in Maryland. It is an uphill fight in a left-wing pro-abortion state like Maryland, but with God all things are possible. To stand by and do nothing while a grave injustice is being perpetrated right in our back yard makes us just as responsible as the people perpetrating the injustice.

Follow-up #2: Late-Term Abortions in Maryland

I wanted to follow up further on A.K.'s excellent postings about Leroy Carhart coming to Germantown, MD. Here are some additional thoughts:

1. It's important to understand that Carhart's specialty is killing babies in the 3rd trimester of the pregnancy--right up to the day before the baby's due date. In a large majority of these cases, the "fetus" that Carhart kills and disposes of like a piece of trash is viable and would survive outside the mother's womb. Operation Rescue describes the method of "late-term abortion" practiced by Carhart here. It is well worth reading the entire article, but a summary of the practice would be that the baby is injected with a massive dose of digoxin directly through the mother's abdomen, which is designed to give the baby a fatal heart attack. A couple days later, the woman gives birth to the dead baby over a toilet. In addition to the obvious evil of killing a living, breathing baby with tiny fingers and a beating heart that is capable of surviving outside of the mother's womb, this barbaric procedure causes pain and suffering to the baby. Massive heart attacks are frightening and painful, and studies have indicated babies as young as the 2nd month of pregnancy are capable of feeling pain. Of course, there have been numerous botched cases of late-term abortions, including ones in which the baby is delivered alive and left to die and ones in which the baby is born alive but severely disabled as a result of the procedure.

Now, I think all abortion is the taking of innocent human life and as such is a moral evil and a deep injustice (excluding those abortions necessary to save the life of the mother). I believe it is a moral issue, not a religious one, and I believe that there is abundant scientific evidence to support the pro-life position. However, I can understand why non-Christian people who do not hold to biblical principles about life beginning at conception might be open to supporting legalized abortions in the earliest stages of pregnancy. After all, the fetus seems quite undeveloped and doesn't look a whole lot like a baby in the first month or two. But it is impossible for me to understand how any person with a functioning conscience could support legalized abortion on demand (that is, abortion not due to rape, incest, or protection of the mother's life) past the point of the baby's viability. This is killing a living human baby capable of surviving outside the mother's womb -- and killing it in an inhumane, brutal fashion. It is infanticide and morally unconscionable by any conceivable community standard, religious or not. Huge majorities of Americans -- including self-described pro-choice Americans -- oppose late-term abortions.

2. If we care about justice and the protection of the most needy and helpless in our society, the slaughter of innocent babies in abortion should deeply grieve and anger us. But what really upsets me is that this is happening in my own backyard, in a town literally 15 minutes from my home. Because Leroy Carhart, one of the few individuals in the whole country brazen enough to perform late-term abortions, is setting up his practice right here in Montgomery County, MD, those of us who live in the area have a unique opportunity to speak out and take a stand on this issue. I am thankful that since the story first broke on Tuesday, my pastor has been at the forefront of the issue. He helped to organize the meeting yesterday with local pastors and activists that A.K. mentioned, and he had a 30-minute interview with a local Christian radio station earlier this evening about Leroy Carhart and the prayer vigil coming up on Monday. He has always been deeply reticent (correctly, in my view) about getting involved in any issue that could be seen as political, but this is not a political issue. It is an issue of life and death, and I think we are failing in our mission to be salt and light if we don't speak out and get involved.

3. So what can each of us as individuals do? The most immediate opportunity for those of us in the Montgomery County area is the prayer vigil coming up on Monday from 11:00 to 1:00 near the location of Carhart's new office in Germantown. The location of the vigil will be at 13233 Executive Park Terrace, Germantown, MD. For anyone interested in coming, there has been a new website set up called http://www.kickoutcarhart.com/ which has a detailed map showing where to park and additional information. There will be a press conference held right at 11:00 am, and we are expecting to have many local and perhaps even national media representatives there. After the press conference, we will spread out and pray. If you are like me and can only come for part of the time, then my pastor is encouraging people to come right at 11:00 for the press conference. We are hoping for a large turnout which will send a strong message that our community does not want Carhart performing late-term abortions here. The vigil and press conference are purely peaceful and we are coordinating with the local police to avoid disruptions; we want our testimony to demonstrate peace and love rather than anger and violence.

Carhart's background is extremely disturbing. He was the abortionist whose negligence apparently contributed to the death of Christin Gilbert, a woman with Down Syndrome who lost her life due to a botched late-term abortion. Also, the radio host who interviewed my pastor last night mentioned that Carhart is apparently moving to Maryland to avoid pending investigations into his practices by other states. It seems the board of the shopping center where Carhart's clinic is located is not too happy about him coming and about the negative response from the community, and they are holding an emergency board meeting to discuss the issue at noon on Monday -- during the prayer vigil! We should pray that the board will deny Carhart and his clinic space in the shopping center. Even if you do not live in the area or cannot come to the press conference and the vigil, you can still stand united with us in prayer. And wherever you live, you can volunteer and offer financial support for crisis pregnancy centers in your area. This is the front line in the fight against legalized abortion -- it offers an alternative to abortion for pregnant women, many of whom are scared and alone and who need love and support.