There is something grim about praying for people who commit grave harm on others -- not the kind that involves mentioning them and their rehabilitation and then that's it (though a sincere prayer said this way of course gains merit as well in the eyes of God). I'm talking about keeping them in mind for an extended period of time, just like I did for the second time several days ago.
It was a day or two after news of the cash-for-baby-organs being carried out by Planned Parenthood broke out that I decided that my rosary for the day would be offered for everyone involved in that organization -- current and past. So for nearly 30 minutes, my heart and mind were fixed on the scenes from the Gospel, praying the prayers to please the Lord, and doing it all for abortion providers. It had quite a sobering effect.
I recalled the first time I did a similar thing -- it was around 2008 or 2009 and my co-worker Petrufied and I decided to participate in the Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity in our own way. It was an annual event carried out in schools across the US and a few other countries whereby students keep silent the entire day and hand out materials that express their life-affirming values and explain why abortion is wrong. Most of the participants put adhesive tape over their mouth with the word LIFE written on the tape. We didn't do it that way but I remember Petrufied wore a bright red and black bandanna around her wrist like a cuff (I don't remember what symbol I used, though).
On that day when I prayed the rosary, my sole intention was all abortionists out there. It sure felt strange offering prayers for people whom you knew killed babies regularly and for a living, but since they were committing such atrocious acts, I did my best to pray with as much attentiveness, love, and spirit of penance as I could.
It's easy to regard abortion workers as "the bad guys" because let's face it -- no matter how one twists and turns the issue to make abortion look like a necessity or a noble service for women or a selfless thing to do or the saving grace of poor women, it is basically the killing of a human being. In fact, it is considered a failure when the baby survives. Imagine calling something a success when the growing baby inside his/her mother's womb dies as a result of the procedure.
I just had a thought: if an abortion doctor or anyone who assists in abortions happens to be reading this, I assure you that hope is something you will get out of this, so let me get right to what I had set on sharing when I started this post. Abby Johnson, a former director of a Planned Parenthood facility in Texas, left the industry several years ago, but her journey didn't end there. She had the abortion clinic workers in mind when she put up And Then There Were None, a non-profit organization that helps clinic workers leave the abortion industry. More than 100 workers have broken free of the industry since And Then There Were None opened its doors so far. There really is hope. Have a look:
And Then There Were None website
And Then There Were None Facebook page
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