40 days of prayer for 40 years of abortion

A DAILY PRAYER GUIDE for healing, hope and remembrance

In commemoration of the
40th ANNIVERSARY of the 1967 ABORTION ACT

40 days of prayer for 40 years of abortion

A daily prayer guide

There is an old Judeo-Christian tradition that God sends each person into this world with a special message to deliver, with a special song to sing, with a special act of love to bestow. No-one else can speak my message, or sing my song, or bestow my act of love. These have been entrusted only to me. According to this tradition, the message may be spoken, the song sung, the act of love delivered only to a few, or to all the folk in a small village, or to all the people in a large city, or even to all the people in the whole world. Everything depends on Gods unique plan for each unique person. To take an innocent life deliberately is to say a violent NO! to a unique and unrepeatable human being. I will not hear your message I will not listen to your song I do not want your love I will not give you my love. (John Powell, Abortion: The Silent Holocaust)

www.timeforchange.org.uk

Contents
Day 1 Giving thanks for life .......................................................................9 Day 2 Abortion & the culture of death.......................................................9 Day 3 Thanking God for the first three months.......................................10 Day 4 Thanking God for the second three months.................................12 Day 5 Thanking God for the the final three months................................13 Day 6 When does a foetus start to feel pain?.........................................14 Day 7 Women who have had an abortion...............................................15 Day 8 Fathers, families & abortion..........................................................15 Day 9 Adverse consequences of abortion ..............................................16 Day 10 Abortion & prematurity................................................................16 Day 11 Adverse psychological effects of abortion..................................17 Day 12 Medical abortion & nurse-led abortions ...................................18 Day 13 Women who had abortions for social indications.....................18 Day 15 Women who had abortions because of rape..............................20 Day 16 Teenage pregnancy & abortion ..................................................21 Day 17 Adoption .....................................................................................21 Day 18 The Lost Generations - demographic impact of abortion ...........22 Day 19 Abortion provision in the health service .....................................23 Day 20 Health professionals who refuse to carry out abortions .............23 Day 21 Professional organisations that are increasingly pro-choice ...25 Day 22 International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) ..............26 Day 23 Forced abortions in China ..........................................................26 Day 24 The UK abortion providers BPAS & Marie Stopes ..................27 Day 25 Those who speak out against abortion: Dr B Nathanson...........29 Day 26 Those who speak out against abortion: Norma McCorvey ........29 Day 27 Organisations that support women in a crisis pregnancy ..........32 Day 28 Pray for those in authority ..........................................................33 Day 29 Politicians who speak out against the abortion problem ............33 Day 30 The Human Tissue & Embryos Bill.............................................34 Day 31 Assisted conception and in-vitro fertilisation IVF........................34 Day 32 Embryo experimentation ............................................................35 Day 33 Sexual health & secrecy.............................................................36 Day 34 Abortion & the sexual revolution.................................................38 Day 35 Abortion & secular humanism ....................................................39 Day 36 Abortion, paganism and occultism .............................................41 Day 37 Abortion & euthanasia ................................................................42 Day 38 Abortion & the divided Church....................................................43 Day 39 Repentance for 40 years of abortion ..........................................44 Day 40 Our own response to the abortion issue ....................................44 Epilogue ...................................................................................................46

Introduction
Thank you so much for your interest in praying 40 days for the 40 years of abortion! The battle about abortion is, above all, a spiritual battle. We know that prayer works! We are convinced that only a few people praying regularly about the issue of abortion in humility and with discernment will make a big difference. Perhaps you might be able to commit yourself to prayer and fasting as well?

Why is praying about abortion so important?

The Bible is very clear that the shedding of innocent blood is one of the most serious sins a people can commit. Indeed, wherever a people in the Old Testament were involved in child sacrifice, usually they were wiped out eventually, like the Canaanites. Even the people of Israel, when they engaged in the child sacrifice to the idol Molech, eventually were conquered by the Assyrians and later by the Romans. However, this pattern is not limited to the Old Testament. The Incas, Mayans and Aztecs of South America, all practising child sacrifice, were conquered by the Spanish conquistadors.

Some warnings from history

Britain today is engaging in child sacrifice on an unprecedented level. There have been more lives destroyed through abortion than in all the wars Britain has ever fought! (See Day 2) If the Canaanites, even the people of Israel, and more recently some of the South American tribes who practised child sacrifice were conquered by a foreign power, what is going to happen to Britain, if she continues with child sacrifice?

Healing and hope

However, God is a God of mercy and of love. He loves to forgive and to heal. We are convinced that He can turn what has been such a curse over this nation into something good. Nothing is impossible for Him. The question is are we as a nation, are we as a church, prepared to come to Him and choose life rather than death? Are we, as a church and as a nation, prepared to repent? When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chron 7:13-14)

Praying for protection

We are convinced that abortion is one of the key entry points of evil into this nation. Abortion is spiritually very significant. Please remember to put on the full protective armour of God before praying about this issue! See Eph 6:10-18.

When to start?
Ideally, one could start praying on the anniversary of the Abortion Act, on Saturday 27 October. However, as there is a six-month window between 27 October 2007 (the passing of the Act) and 27 April 2008 (when it came into effect). This could be prayed any time between these two dates. God is above time! Please feel free to pass on this prayer guide to others who may be concerned about the abortion issue. Further copies can be downloaded from www.timeforchange.org.uk .

40 years of abortion
October 27, 2007 is the 40th anniversary of the passing of the 1967 Abortion Act. The Act was passed on 27 October 1967 but did not come into effect until six months later, on 27 April 1968. Please note the significance of the figure 40 in the Bible. The flood that destroyed all life apart from those in the Ark lasted for 40 days. Moses stayed 40 days on Mount Sinai and Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert. The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years and Egypt was to be desolated for 40 years, to be again restored after 40 years. Ezekiel was told to lie on his right side for 40 days, one day each for the sin of the House of Judah. The figure 40 therefore has profound significance for the life of a nation and especially for Gods people. After 40 years of abortion, we are at a crossroads. Will we in the Church and we in the nation choose life or death?

40 days and 40 years in the Bible

40 DAYS Of rain, at the time of the flood (Genesis 7:17) - For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth. 40 DAYS Of flood, before sending forth the raven (Genesis 8:6) 40 DAYS Of probation, given to the Ninevites (Jonah 3:4) Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed, Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." 40 DAYS By Moses (Exodus 24:18;34:28; Deuteronomy 9:9,25) Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. 40 DAYS By Elijah (1 Kings 19:8) Strengthened by that food, he travelled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 40 DAYS By Ezekiel (Ezekiel 4:6) lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you forty days, a day for each year. 40 DAYS By Jesus (Matthew 4:2) After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 40 DAYS After the resurrection (Acts 1:3) After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 40 YEARS The Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 16:35; Numbers 14:34) For forty years one year for each of the forty days you explored the land you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you. 40 YEARS Peace in Israel (Judges 3:11; 5:31; 8:28) So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died. 40 YEARS Egypt to be desolated (Ezekiel 29:11) No foot of man or animal will pass through it; no one will live there for forty years. 40 YEARS Restoration (Ezekiel 29:13) Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered.
(Source: Naves topical Bible)

The angel of death over Britain

This vision was given to an intercessor, Mandy Patterson, in 2000.

Mandy saw a huge angel with an enormous sword over Britain. The angel is an angel of the Lord, and his name is death, as in the death/darkness referred to in Exodus 20:21. His sword is poised over Britain (but it could be also over many other nations). The red colour about the darkness around the world represents the pain felt by God. The huge hand over the angel is the hand of God, restraining the angel of death over this nation as a result of intercession: Lord have mercy!
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Total numbers killed through abortion

The total numbers killed through abortion exceed 6.7 million. This is more than all the lives lost through all the wars in which Britain has ever participated. This is the death toll represented as one cross for every 25,000 people killed: Hundred Years War 100,000 killed Wars of the Roses 100,000 killed (1337-1453):

(1455-1485):

Civil War (1642 & 1651): 190,000 killed Napoleonic Wars 115,000 killed (17961815):

War of 1812: 1,600 killed 1st World War (1914-1918): 900,000 killed 2nd World War 450,000 killed (19391945):

Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991): 24 killed Iraq War (as of August 2007): 168 killed Abortion: 6.7 million killed since 1968

Fearfully and wonderfully made

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. You hem me in behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139 - NIV)
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Day 1 Giving thanks for life

Life is a gift from God. God is the only one who has life in Him, He is the source of all life. In Genesis we read: The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (Gen 2:7) and in Deuteronomy we read: For the LORD is your life (Deut 30:20). God Himself is the source of all life. But God has given us a choice between life and death. We read in Deuteronomy 30: See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life. (Deut 30:15, 19-20) As a nation, we have on so many occasions chosen death over life, as evidenced by the thousands that die of drugs, of alcohol, of smoking cigarettes, of suicide. Are we individually and corporately going to choose life or death?

Day 2 Abortion & the culture of death

God has given us the choice of life or death. As a nation, as individuals, and even as Church, we so often choose death over life. We live in a culture of death. We choose death over life. As a result of the culture of death, we have thousands die of illegal drugs, tens of thousands die of alcohol and hundreds of thousands die of smoking cigarettes. However, all these numbers are dwarfed by the millions destroyed in their mothers womb. At least 6.7 million abortions have been performed since abortion became legal 40 years ago. More lives have been taken away through abortion than all the lives lost in all the wars Britain has ever fought (see p, 7). In addition to this, nearly 2 million embryos have been destroyed through embryo experimentation. Have a look at the dramatic picture of the angel of death over Britain painted by Mandy Patterson (p 6). Please pray that God would have mercy on our land, that He would restrain the forces of death in this country and that we again would choose life rather than death. Let us repent for choosing death over life, so that God may again heal our land. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. (2 Chron 7:13-14)

Days 3-5 Thanking God for the development in the womb

If we consider the amazing development of the baby in the womb over the 40 weeks in the womb, we can truly say, You knit me together in my mothers womb and I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Ps 139) We can thank God for the amazing development of life in the womb, praying for protection for unborn babies as they develop.
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Day 3 Thanking God for the development in the womb the first three months
Egg and sperm Hundreds of sperm cluster around an unfertilised egg. Eventually one will break through the outer coat and begin the fertilisation process. Sperm can survive for up to 48 hours in the female reproductive tract - and take 10 hours to navigate their way up it. (Picture: "From Conception to Birth" by Alexander Tsiaras and Barry Werth)

What's first? The development of the placenta is one of the first and most important changes following conception. It starts to grow from the moment the fertilised egg attaches itself to the womb and is the link between the mother and the baby, delivering oxygen, nourishment and antibodies via the umbilical cord, and carrying waste products away. Weeks 4-5 The embryo settles into the lining of the womb and starts to form into the different layers of tissue that will eventually grow to be the different parts of the baby's body. The brain and spinal cord begin to form, as does the heart. Eyes and ears are just beginning to form. Week 5 This is when most women miss their first period. The baby's nervous system has already begun to develop. His heart is forming and by about 25 days it begins to beat. The baby has some of his own blood vessels by this stage and a string of these will become the umbilical cord.

Week 6 This is what a human embryo looks like six weeks after fertilisation. The embryo is enclosed within a membrane called the amniotic sac. This contains amniotic fluid, which surrounds and protects the developing embryo. Brain activity can be recorded, eyes are present but no eyelids yet. The heart is more developed and is beating. The baby is less than inch long. Science Photo Library

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Weeks 6-8 At eight weeks, all essential organs have begun to form. The baby will be about 8mm ( inch) long, bones are beginning to form and fingers, toes, ankles and wrists are developing. Until the end of week 8 the baby is known as an embryo. Weeks 8-9 At nine weeks the baby is enclosed in the amniotic sac, which contains amniotic fluid that cushions the developing baby. It is connected to its mother by the umbilical cord, which provides the developing foetus with nutrients. The baby's face is now forming. There's a mouth and tongue. The hands and feet are developing, along with the heart, gut, liver, lungs, kidneys and brain. At nine weeks the baby is about 1.7cm ( inch) from top to toe, and is now known as a foetus. In Britain, the average gestational age that abortions are carried out is around nine weeks. .

Week 10 By week ten, fingernails are starting to sprout from nailbeds in the fingers. Many of the body's organs are starting to begin their function, including the liver and pancreas. The skin is now sensitive to touch and the foetus is growing fast - doubling in size between weeks nine and 12. The hands can make a fist and the head is half the length of the body. (Picture: "From Conception to Birth" by Alexander Tsiaras and Barry Werth) .

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Day 4 Thanking God for the development in the womb the second three months
By the second trimester all organs are formed. It is possible that by 12 weeks the foetus experiences pain. Week 12 The baby is in its fourth month of development. Growth at this time is rapid: the head is still relatively large with a bulging forehead, the outer ear is formed, as are the nose and mouth; the eyes have migrated from the sides of the head, although the eyelids have not yet fully developed. Forearms, wrists, hands and fingers are well differentiated, developing at a faster rate than the lower limbs. Both arms and legs move and all body parts and organs are developed. The fibres that carry pain to the brain are developed, however it is controversial whether an unborn child experiences pain at 12 weeks (or even before). There is some research that suggests that already at 12 weeks, the baby is likely to experience pain. The baby is now 2-3 inches long. In the UK, 90% of terminations are carried out at 13 weeks or earlier. Science Photo Library

By week 14, he'll be 3-4 inches long. At this stage too, the baby's heartbeat can be heard with an ultrasound detector, beating at about twice the speed of the mothers heart rate - 150 beats per minute. The mouth makes sucking motions, amniotic fluid is swallowed and the liver and pancreas start to work. One in ten abortions in Britain is carried out after 13 weeks.

Weeks 15-20 Most women feel their baby move for the first time during these weeks. The baby is growing quickly now and his hair, eyelashes and eyebrows are growing too. He also has his own fingerprints, can make a fist and can grip. He should be about 4-5 inches at 16 weeks. Picture is of a 15-week foetus
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Day 5 Thanking God for the development in the womb the final three months
Week 20-26 The baby has a regular sleeping and waking pattern now and movements can be clearly felt. The skin becomes less transparent, eyebrows and eyelashes appear. Breathing-like movements become regular and can be detected by ultrasound; however at 20-22 weeks the lungs are extremely immature and would not allow survival if born now. At 24 weeks unique foot and fingerprints are present, outside sounds can be heard and actions such as hiccupping, smiling and frowning may be seen on ultrasound. Some premature babies can survive from 23 weeks but may have disabilities. In 2006, nearly 3,000 abortions were carried out at 20 weeks or later and 136 at 24 weeks or later.

Weeks 26-28 Rapid growth continues. Fine, soft hair called lanugo now covers his skin. The baby is covered in a greasy substance called vernix, which protects him from the fluid he's floating in and is slippery, so he can't get tangled in the umbilical cord. He now responds to touch and sound, and loud noises will make him jump. The lungs have further matured and breathing is possible. At 26 weeks, his eyelids will open for the first time. At 28 weeks, there is a very good chance of survival if birth were to occur at this stage. Weeks 30-32 By 30 weeks, there are regular breathing movements, even though the lungs are not fully mature yet. Bones are fully developed, but still soft - and he's getting plenty of kicking practice. The baby starts to get ready for birth by laying down fat and getting plumper. By 32 weeks, body temperature is partially under control. By about 32-34 weeks, he'll start to lie head down in preparation for birth and there is a very good chance of long-term survival, with low risk of longterm disability, if the baby is born now. At 32 weeks, the baby will be about 16 inches long. Weeks 34-38 The baby is getting bigger and heavier by the day and is probably about 46cm (18 ins) in length. The eyes open during alert times and close during sleep. The fine hair tends to disappear and fingernails reach the end of fingertips. During this time the baby may move down into the pelvis ready to be born.

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Weeks 38-40 The baby is gaining about 8oz (230g) of weight a week and is about 50cm (20 inches) from top to toe. He's curled up in a foetal position with his knees against his nose and his thighs tight against his body. The unborn child turns towards a light source. 40 weeks is the average length of pregnancy and a baby is classed as being born at "term", if he's born any time from the beginning of the 38th week until the end of the 41st week.
(Sources for above pictures: www.smanutrition.co.uk/PlanningPregnancy/Pregnancy/development.asp; BBC website; http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/wrtk)

Day 6 When does a foetus start to feel pain?

When does a foetus start feeling pain? This is an important question. Until not that long ago, it was thought that even a newborn baby could not feel pain. This is obviously wrong. Still, today it is claimed by some that the foetus cannot feel pain until 26 weeks. But is this correct? As we have seen, the nerve structures responsible for the transmission of pain are essentially present by six weeks gestation. It is, however, impossible to prove that the baby in the womb feels pain by six weeks, as no studies that examine this at such an early stage have been carried out.

Ultrasound scan of a baby at 22 weeks

However, there is research that seems to indicate that certainly from 14-16 weeks gestation, there is a response within the baby that points to the baby experiencing pain, such as the release of certain stress hormones and movement, for example, moving away from a needle. To give a morphine-type pain medication before a painful stimulus is administered seems to stop this response, pointing to the likelihood that the foetus does feel pain by 14-16 weeks. (However, as there is no research at earlier gestation, it is simply not possible to disprove that a foetus does not feel pain by say 8-10 weeks, the average gestation that terminations are carried out.) The consequences of this research could be devastating. Not all terminations are carried out under general anaesthetic - for example, medical terminations, terminations under local anaesthetic or sedation and even with a general anaesthetic, one cannot assume that the foetus is fully anaesthetised. The recently published guidance by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists on abortion fails to mention the topic of foetal pain. Even if there is scientific uncertainty about the gestational age by which the foetus can feel pain, should the unborn baby not be given the benefit of the doubt and anaesthesia be administered before all terminations? Please pray for an increasing awareness of the issue of foetal pain among the medical establishment.

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Day 7 Women who have had an abortion

Most women who had terminations probably did not really want one but felt they had no choice because of circumstances, for example, work, university, school or they were pressurised by their family or partner/husband. It is ironic that, with the language of pro-choice and the easy availability of terminations, women are forced into something that many regret later. With abortion being so frequent now it is estimated that one in three women have had an abortion and around one in five pregnancies ends in abortion the consequences of abortion for society as a whole are far more significant than generally acknowledged. Abortion has physical, emotional and spiritual consequences. Abortion is not as safe as generally assumed. While for some abortion appears to be the solution to a difficult situation for example, a difficult relationship, economic pressure etc - many women deeply regret their abortion. Depression, suicide attempts or even suicide, but also accidents or violent death, are far more common after abortion than if a woman continues with the pregnancy or even if she has a miscarriage. After abortion, there is an increase in premature births in subsequent pregnancies. From a spiritual point of view, the increase in suicide attempts, suicide, accidents, violent deaths and premature birth in subsequent pregnancies is a pointer to the presence of spirits of death, which have been released as a result of the termination. However, Jesus has come to set the captives free. He says: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour. (Luke 4:18) There are the testimonies of many women who regretted their abortion and received healing and forgiveness through Gods mercy and love. Please pray for women who have had an abortion. There is healing, there is forgiveness and there is freedom in Christ! For more information on this please look at the website of British Victims of Abortion www.bvafoundation.org.

Day 8 Fathers, families & abortion

In the discussion about abortion, frequently the focus is on the mother and her unborn child. The father often does not seem to be discussed. However, the child that is developing is his child. The most common situation is that a father wants the mother to have an abortion and she doesnt. But sometimes the opposite happens the father wants the mother to keep the baby, whereas she insists on a termination. In the UK over 20 men have attempted in courts to prevent their former partner having abortions. To our knowledge, all attempts failed in the courts, even though sometimes the mother then changed her mind, as for example in the 1987 case of Richard Carver. Richard, aged 24, was a student at Magdalen College, Oxford. He wanted to prevent his former girlfriend, aged 21, also studying at Oxford, from having an abortion. He argued that the abortion was unlawful in that the foetus was, capable of being born alive. . Even though the legal challenge was unsuccessful in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords, his ex-girlfriend chose to continue with the pregnancy and gave the baby to him. As abortion is a wrong, it causes further wrongs. We need to recognise that abortion does not just affect women, it also affects fathers. Men hurt too! However, it is not just fathers who lose a child, the grandparents too lose a grandchild, the brother(s) and sister(s) lose a sibling, etc. Please pray for men and for families who have lost children as a result of abortion, that there will be healing.
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Day 9 Adverse consequences of abortion

Despite the public perception and the official statements of medical organisations, abortions are neither harmless nor are they devoid of adverse medical consequences. While this is a controversial subject, a number of recent studies indicate that abortion is associated with an increased risk of subsequent premature delivery, ectopic pregnancy, infertility and infections in the womb. There is research that shows that abortion may lead to an increase in breast cancer. There is increasing evidence of the adverse psychological effects of abortion. It has been recognised for some years that women with a past history of mental health problems are at greater risk of suffering psychological ill effects after abortion. Even those without any past mental health problems are also at risk. In a recent study from New Zealand following women over a 25-year period, women who had abortions had twice the level of mental health problems and three times the risk of major depressive illness as those who had either given birth or never been pregnant. In another study from Finland, women after an abortion had a four-fold increase in death from accidents, six-fold increased risk of death from suicide and nearly fourteen-fold increase in death from homicide compared to those women who delivered. Please pray for women who suffered physically, emotionally and spiritually as a result of abortion. Please pray for healing of the wounds caused by abortion. Please also pray that there will be a change in culture, that the medical establishment acknowledges that abortion does have adverse emotional effects and that women will be told this before considering an abortion.

Day 10 Abortion & prematurity

Abortion leads to an increased risk of premature birth in subsequent pregnancies. It is estimated that, after an abortion, the risk of premature delivery in a subsequent pregnancy is increased by a factor of up to two, i.e. after one abortion a woman is up to twice as likely to have a premature delivery than if she had not had an abortion. The risk for premature delivery actually increases with the number of abortions, so that women who had two or more abortions may increase the risk of having a premature baby by a factor of three. Extremely preterm delivery has a number of potentially severe risks for the baby, there is a high risk of death in the neonatal period and a greatly increased risk of brain damage. This then could lead to permanent disability including cerebral palsy, severe learning difficulties and reduced eyesight including blindness and hearing loss including deafness.

The feet of the world's most premature living baby, Amillia Taylor, are displayed in a photo taken shortly after her birth on October 24, 2006. She was born at 21 weeks and 6 days gestation, weighing only 280 grams. After a four-month battle for survival, doctors say Amillia is ready to go home. Photo: AFP
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John Wyatt, Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics in London, estimates that, as a result of the widespread practice of abortion, at least 400 babies are born each year prematurely that otherwise would have been born at term, half of them extremely prematurely. This could cost society and the health service 30-60 million per year. Most, if not all women who go for a termination are not being informed about the increased risk of prematurity as a result of abortion. Medically, it may be difficult to explain why there would be an increased risk for premature births after an abortion. However, from a spiritual point of view, this is not surprising. Abortion leads to death of a human being in the womb and the womb can become spiritually hostile to subsequent pregnancies. Please pray for those children and their parents who have been born prematurely. Prematurity can place an enormous burden on the families. Please pray for an increase in awareness of the link between abortion and prematurity.

Day 11 Adverse psychological effects of abortion

After abortion, women are more likely to have depression and be admitted to a psychiatric unit compared to women who gave birth. In one study, 20% of women who had an abortion were found to have significant mental health problems even five years after the termination (the study examined only a five-year period, therefore it could not answer the question whether women suffer longer than five years in our experience a quite common occurrence). There is an increase in suicide and suicide attempts after abortion. In a Finnish study, maternal suicide rate within 12 months of end of pregnancy was six times higher for women who had a termination compared to women who had given birth. In the same study, the risk of suicide after abortion was still twice the risk of women who had a spontaneous miscarriage. In a study from the US over an eight-year period, women who had a termination were more than twice as likely to die as a result of suicide and nearly twice as likely to die as a result of violent deaths (such as accidents or homicide) than women who delivered. A study from Wales found a trebling in suicide attempts after abortion compared to normal delivery. Not surprisingly, women who had a previous abortion were also much more likely to misuse illicit drugs and alcohol in subsequent pregnancies. Women with a previous abortion were five times more likely to abuse any illicit drugs, ten times more likely to abuse cannabis and twice as likely to abuse alcohol in subsequent pregnancies compared to women who did not have an abortion. Some believe that an abortion for foetal disability will be less traumatic for women. However, a quarter of women who had a termination for foetal abnormality still suffered with grief, post traumatic stress disorder and/or depression and/or anxiety six months after the abortion. In another study, one third of women who terminated for foetal abnormality had depression 12 months later. In still another study, looking at women who terminated for foetal abnormality, one in six women still were suffering with adverse effects including post-traumatic stress syndrome seven years after the abortion. Abortion for foetal abnormality therefore does not appear to be less traumatic for women than abortion for social indication. In view of this, it is surprising that the guidance issued by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists states that abortion is safer than continuing a pregnancy to term. (Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists: The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion. September 2004)
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It is clear that abortion is not such a harmless procedure as many claim. Please pray for an increased awareness, especially among the medical professions, about the adverse effects of abortion. In our experience, most women who receive counselling before an abortion are not told about adverse psychological effects and the complication rates are downplayed. Please also pray that there will be a change in culture, that the medical establishment, especially the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, acknowledges that abortion does have adverse emotional effects and that women will be told this before considering an abortion.

Day 12 Medical abortion & nurse-led abortions

There is an increasing push to have home abortion or nurse-led abortions in order to make access to abortion even easier and more convenient for women. This would involve the so-called medical abortion. Increasingly, abortions are not carried out surgically, but the woman seeking an abortion is given medication. In 2006, nearly one third of all abortions were carried out as medical abortions. This type of abortion involves taking the abortion pill (Mifepristone, RU-486) that stops the pregnancy and kills the foetus. One to three days later this is then followed by the administration of another drug (usually by the woman herself) that then leads to the expulsion of the foetus. Medical abortions are being used frequently in early pregnancy but can be used up to 24 weeks. Medical abortion, however, is not always successful and at least one in 20 women require surgery to complete the termination or for complications that occur. Minor complications are fairly frequent, including uterine cramping; and nausea, vomiting, vaginal bleeding and serious infections occur in about 1% after medical abortion. In North America, at least six women have died as a result of medical abortion. In the UK, there have been two possible cases of death following this procedure. The disturbing common features were that all the women who died were otherwise young and healthy. Many women find medical abortion very traumatic, as they have to go through something like labour to expel a dead baby. Please pray that there will not be an expansion of home abortions and nurse-led abortions. This could well lead to a further increase in abortion and is likely to lead to a black market in abortion drugs.

Day 13 Women who had abortions (or consider it) for social indications
Essentially all terminations (97%) are carried out under clause C of the Abortion Act, the social indication which states, the pregnancy has not exceeded its twenty-fourth week and that the continuance of the pregnancy would involve risk, greater than if the pregnancy were terminated, of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman. With section C in place, we now have essentially abortion on demand in this country with figures that are nothing but staggering. The total number of abortions in 2006 was 193,700 for residents of England and Wales; in addition to this, 13,000 abortions were carried out in Scotland. On top of this figure, 7,400 abortions were carried out on non-residents (5,000 from the Irish Republic and 1,300 from Northern Ireland). This brings the total number of abortions carried out in the UK in the year 2006 to over 214,000.

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Nearly one in three (32%) women who went for a termination already had at least one past termination. Nearly one in four (23%) women under the age of 25 had an abortion. 80% of all abortions were carried out on single women. It is very easy for a woman to get a termination under this clause we are not aware of women ever being refused an abortion and we essentially now have abortion on demand in this country. Two doctors have to certify that the woman meets the criteria of the Abortion Act. However, many have serious questions about this process. Please pray that there will be a complete change in our attitude towards life. Please pray for the hundreds of women who consider a termination every day and for the millions of women who have had a termination in this country.

Day 14 Women who consider abortion for disability

A very small number only 1% of terminations are carried out because of disability of the foetus. Recently, there has been the legal challenge brought by Joanna Jepson, who herself was born with a number of facial deformities, requiring multiple surgery. Joanna brought a challenge against the provision of a termination of a baby of 28 weeks, where the termination was carried out because of a cleft lip/palate. It was reported recently, that 50 babies with club feet were aborted in just one area of England in a three-year period. Thirty-seven babies with cleft lips or palates and 26 with extra or webbed fingers or toes were also aborted. Increasingly, pressure is applied on parents whose child may have a disability. The following is a not unusual case example brought to our attention. A pregnant woman who was 30 weeks into her second pregnancy she already had a healthy child aged 3 was told as a result of a scan that the babys legs were a few millimetres shorter than normal. The doctors told this couple that this could mean their son was at risk of dwarfism, even though both parents are fairly tall, around 6 foot. They were offered an abortion! The couple were shocked and appalled at what they called the attitude of the NHS. They refused the abortion and their son was born in perfect health, but the mother felt that the attitude of NHS staff spoiled the rest of the pregnancy. There are obviously cases of severe foetal disability and it is a very difficult decision for parents whether to continue with a pregnancy or not. However, we need to consider the implications for those adults who have disabilities now. Please pray for a change in attitude towards disability and especially for a change in attitude towards those working in the health service.

Do you believe in love?

Dr Victor Rosenblum, a professor of law and father of a disabled child, was asked whether abortion would be justified in the case that the baby would be handicapped or disabled. His response: Do you believe in love? I dont mean simple lip service to love. I am talking about life service. Do you really believe that we are here to love one another? If you do, then you dont say I will love you because you have your mental faculties, and I love you because you are healthy, but not you because you have only one arm. True love does not discriminate in this way. If we really believe in love, and find that a baby will be born having no arms, we would say, Baby, we are going to love you. We will make arms for you. We have many new skills now for doing this. And, baby, if these arms dont work, we will be your arms. We will take care of you. You can be sure of that. You are one of us, a member of our human family, and we will always love you. (Quoted in John Powell, Abortion: The Silent Holocaust, 1981)
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The Lejeune Clinic for Downs Syndrome

The Lejeune Clinic for Downs Syndrome is probably the only clinic in the UK providing specialist care for children with Downs syndrome. In their submission to the current inquiry on abortion, they quote from the Down Syndrome Association of Queensland Position Statement on Pregnancy Testing: People with Down syndrome are valuable human beings who deserve respect and equality. All people with Down syndrome have the potential to lead full and rewarding lives and make an important contribution to our community Down syndrome is not a reason for termination. . Prenatal testing should not be offered or promoted using outdated information, negative stereotypes, prejudicial images or offensive terminology which have the potential to stigmatise people with Down Syndrome and increase the fear of disability Pregnant women and their partners must be advised that they can refuse testing. They must not be subject to pressure to undertake a particular test or terminate a pregnancy or make a decision in undue haste. Couples who continue pregnancies following positive diagnosis should not be denied access to services or benefits. Anecdotal evidence from mothers attending the clinic points to breaches of virtually all of these recommendations. Women report that they were repeatedly asked if they wanted a termination each time they attended antenatal clinic, whether or not they had already communicated their decision to proceed with the pregnancy. Some women felt that they were expected to have an abortion and very few were offered accurate or positive information on the real expectations of life with a child with Downs Syndrome. . There were a few anecdotes, which caused great concern. The worst was of a woman who was asked if she would have an amniocentesis just before the baby was due, in order to make the diagnosis, so that the medical team would know whether to resuscitate the baby or not. It cannot be emphasised too strongly that, these are nearly all wanted babies and the emotional problems arising from their abortion are consequently greater. Furthermore, late abortions, including in some cases lethal intrauterine injections, are particularly traumatic. These women are at particular risk of post traumatic stress disorder. (Submission by the Lejeune Clinic for Downs Syndrome, October 2007; further information on www.downschildrenclinic.org)

Day 15 Women who had abortions, or consider one, because of rape

Sexual assault and rape are very serious offences, causing physical, emotional and spiritual scars to women, often for many years to come. If, as a result of rape, a pregnancy occurs actually, this is quite rare this is likely to cause a very serious dilemma. There are some who would argue that a woman has the right to have a termination under those circumstances. There are others who would disagree and indeed we are aware of women who gave birth to children born out of rape, where the child has enriched the family, even though conceived in such a way. Julie Makimaa, herself conceived out of rape, stated, "It doesn't matter how I began. What matters is who I will become." (Quoted in http://www.afterabortion.org/rape.html) Please pray for women who have had a termination for rape. Please pray for all those women who face this dilemma and pray for those who are continuing with a pregnancy despite being raped.
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Day 16 Teenage pregnancy & abortion

The UK has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe. Despite a raft of measures and initiatives and spending millions of pounds on teenage pregnancy units, the teenage pregnancy rate has remained stubbornly high. Last year, nearly 4,000 abortions were carried out on girls under the age of 16; 1,000 on girls aged 14 years and younger, and 135 on girls aged 13 years and younger. 6 out of 10 teenage pregnancies end in abortion. The youngest girl to have a termination in the UK was 9 years old. It was reported recently that an 18-year old girl had had her sixth abortion. The typical approach to reduce teenage pregnancies adopted by the government includes easy and confidential access to family planning clinics, confidential (i.e. secretive) access to abortion, giving out the pill, including the morning-after pill, and condoms. However, not surprisingly, research has shown that this approach does not work and indeed is likely to make things worse. The typical sex education programme does not even mention abstinence as a positive choice. If a young girl finds herself pregnant, this is often a severe crisis situation and the knee-jerk reaction is to go for termination. However, a termination for an underage girl is probably at least as traumatic as it is for an adult woman. Many girls are forced into a termination by their parents or are offered secretive abortions through school workers or family planning clinics. An alternative such as adoption is not normally discussed. Please pray about the issue of teenage pregnancy and teenage abortion. How can we in the Church help in this situation?

Day 17 Adoption
It is ironic, that, while we have in excess of 210,000 terminations a year - over 550 a day - there is a desperate shortage of babies for adoption. Only about 300 babies are given up for adoption every year. Also, there is an increasing demand for fertility services, with many women requiring IVF or other forms of assisted conception. Many women who have a termination should at least be offered the alternative of adoption. However, adoption as an alternative to abortion seems only rarely mentioned in the NHS. The consideration of adoption is very difficult and painful for women and there is an enormous resistance to adoption among most women who would rather opt for termination than consider adoption. Please pray for a change in opinion regarding adoption.

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Please pray for the following organisations involved in adoption: ASIST (Adoption Support in Society Today) The Mews, High St, Dulverton, Somerset, TA22 9HB Tel 01823 253026; email asist@btinternet.com This group offers support for the birth mother. To download a leaflet on adoption go to: www.careconfidential.com/Documents/BabyAdoption Todayleaflet.pdf BAAF (British Association for Adoption and Fostering) Skyline House, 200 Union St, London, SE1 0LX Tel 020 7593 2000; email mail@baaf.org.uk Website www.baaf.org.uk A huge amount of information can also be found on website www.adoption.org.uk

Poster by a US church, encouraging adoption as alternative to abortion

Day 18 The Lost Generations - demographic impact of abortion

With over 6.7 million abortions since abortion was legalised, the Lost Generations are those who might have been born, had they not been aborted or their parents aborted. Some of those aborted in 1968 could now be grandparents. The number of lives lost is startling. The working age population has now been reduced by over 6 million as a consequence of abortion. This figure is estimated to rise to over 7.5 million by 2017, i.e. more than one tenth of the entire population are missing because of abortion in ten years time! The demographic impact of abortion is devastating upon this country. We recall the picture of the angel of death (see introduction). Please pray that we as a nation would again choose life and not death. Patrick S Carroll is Director of Research at PAPRI, (Pensions and Population Research Institute) in London and is an actuary. He has done calculations about the Lost Generations through abortion. He comes to some startling findings: The increase in the abortion rate has contributed to the decline in the birth rate since 1968. Lost Generations have been computed to illustrate what the population might have been, had there not been legalised abortion. The First Lost Generation is based on abortion numbers. The Second Lost Generation is then the children of the First Lost Generation. The Third Lost Generation is the children of the Second and grandchildren of the First. The absence of the Lost Generations results in a working age population that is now 6.07 million smaller than it would have been without abortion. As a result of abortion, the working age population in 2017 is forecast to be 10.9% smaller (7.56 million in absolute numbers) than it might have been. The projection for 2027 is a reduction of the working age population of 11.3% (or 9.54 million) than it might have been without abortion.

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Day 19 Abortion provision in the health service

The NHS and private providers are the largest organisations that carry out terminations. At the same time, and often at the same place where abortions are being carried out, treatment for infertility is offered. This creates the peculiar situation that in some wards you would have a woman who has just had a termination next to a woman who is being investigated for infertility and trying to conceive a baby. One woman desperate to get rid of her baby in one bed, whereas you have a woman desperate to have a baby in the next bed or in the same ward. There is increasing pressure on doctors and nurses to participate in abortion, even though there is a conscience clause allowing health professionals to opt out of being involved in abortion. Anecdotal evidence shows that many health professionals are concerned about abortions but participate in them, because they have to be done. There are increasing signs that many in the health service are uneasy about abortions and refuse to be involved. Please pray for the health service as a whole. Please pray that it will embrace a culture of life rather than a culture of death, where life is cherished rather than destroyed.

Day 20 Doctors, nurses & other health professionals who refuse to carry out abortions
The situation where in one ward one woman is having a termination, whereas another is having treatment for infertility, puts doctors and nursing staff in a very tense situation, having to care for both or be involved in both procedures almost simultaneously. An increasing number of doctors and nurses refuse to be involved in the provision of abortion and refuse to take part in them. This has led The Independent to recently have a front page Abortion crisis as doctors refuse to perform surgery see below. For some doctors, this has meant that they could not go into their chosen career obstetrics and gynaecology - as this would involve doing terminations. A recent survey by the GP magazine Pulse showed that nearly one in five of more than 300 GPs said they did not believe abortion should be legal, with 24% saying they would not sign abortion referral forms. More than half those supporting abortion said the 24-week limit should be reduced. Please pray for wisdom and strength for those health professionals that refuse to get involved in abortions. Britain is facing an abortion crisis because an unprecedented number of doctors are refusing to be involved in carrying out the procedure. The exodus of doctors prepared to perform the task is a nationwide phenomenon that threatens to plunge the abortion service into chaos, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has warned. More than 190,000 abortions are carried out each year in England and Wales and the NHS is already struggling to cope. Four out of five abortions are paid for by the NHS, but almost half of those are carried out in the private sector, paid for by the NHS. The reluctance of NHS staff, both doctors and nurses, to be involved has led to a doubling of abortions paid for by the NHS.. Distaste at performing terminations combined with ethical and religious convictions has led to a big increase in "conscientious objectors" who request exemption from the task, the RCOG says. (The Independent; 16.4.07; pictured front page of the Independent, quotation from the article)
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ABORTION: LET'S START TO SAY NO By Dr Adrian Marks, GP

THE FIRST abortion I saw is carved into my memory. I was standing behind the surgeon as a medical student. Sister was busying herself with instruments and no one was laughing. An enormous sucker went in and the clear plastic hosing convulsed, ran red and shot its contents into a glass jar. Later, one of us found the courage to ask the surgeon what it's like. "The first time I was physically sick," he said. "But then it gets easier." Perhaps we should not ask why we hesitate but why we do them at all? Compassion is certainly a motivator in pushing many of us into medicine. That's why, after an abortion interview, I will offer a second opinion with a detailed referral letter. Of course there will always be doctors willing to staff abortion clinics. They will put their feelings aside and get on with it and make good money. But the issue for most of us is: what will really help a difficult situation? Is this abortion health-giving, legal and in harmony with our beliefs as human beings? Abortion is not just an amputation. Every doctor prefers a creative procedure rather than cutting off a leg. But abortion slices into so many lives - it's the destruction of a human being. I once had to prepare a teenager for the operation. Her parents were not to know. Things went wrong and she bled heavily, needing more time in hospital. The boss told us to say she was in for heavy periods. A web of deceit grew up, as the concerned mum and dad called in day after day Legally, we doctors are the only ones who hold the key to the lock, which says yes or no to abortion in Britain. We can only turn the key if "in good faith" we believe abortion is less risky to the mother than keeping the baby. I suspect many of us have doubts about the genuine legality of many abortions that we approve. Clinical studies show that the overall risk of death or suicide in the first year after abortion is two to four times higher than having the baby. Nagging away at many doctors is the suspicion that we are dispatching an innocent human being on false pretences. A recent high-profile study from New Zealand confirmed that abortion is a risk to the psychological health of the mother. I suspect the same is true for the fathers, though the aching loss is more hidden. I will never forget the young man who killed himself when his girlfriend, pressured by her mother, terminated his baby. Like anyone else, doctors don't like being taken for a ride. The knowledge that, for some, abortion is just another form of contraception sticks in our throats. Sooner or later we find the real reason. For me it came too late in the case of a woman whose baby carried a 1-in-15 chance of a serious disease in later life. Reluctantly, I signed the blue form to terminate the life of that little boy in the womb. Within a week or two the mother admitted the real reason was the inconvenience to her social life. Soon after that I found myself working in a Christian hospital in the Middle East. We came under pressure from Arab women with illegitimate pregnancies. Their own families would kill them if they found out. But we never terminated. Time and again we found another way to help. But what finally clinched it for me was my work with premature babies in the same hospital. I had the privilege of caring for these tiny human beings - so soon after I had consigned one to death. This is typical of the conflict in Britain today as babies of 22 weeks gestation not only survive but often do well. Is it only doctors who are asking, "What are we doing?" Two weeks ago a Swiss woman told me, "We need the handicapped - they give us so much love." I had rushed across the hall to help her daughter, who was having a fit. Yes, the mother was worn from caring for this teenager - but so glad that she had opted against abortion. Of course we can and do terminate one life where two lives are at risk, for instance in an ectopic pregnancy. In that case both would die without intervention. But, overall, we are here to care, not to kill. Last year a sleeping profession sprang into life and, in poll after poll, declared itself opposed to euthanasia. These were doctors from all the faiths and none. It's the same with abortion. Abortion is bad for the mums and dads, bad for doctors and depletes our nation of 25 per cent of its healthy people. (Published in The Sunday Express, 22 April 2007)
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From the Hippocratic Oath Widely believed to be written by Hippocrates 4th century BC:

I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone. To please no-one will I prescribe a deadly drug nor give advice which may cause his death. Nor will I give a woman a pessary to procure abortion. But I will preserve the purity of my life and my arts.

Day 21 Professional organisations that are increasingly prochoice

Increasingly, doctors, nurses and other health professionals, who have concerns about abortions or who refuse to participate in them, are being put under pressure. It is becoming increasingly difficult for doctors and other health professionals to be opposed to abortion. This is a result of pressure put upon doctors by their regulatory bodies such as the General Medical Council, but increasingly the doctors union, the BMA, has been taking a more aggressive pro-abortion stance. Doctors who oppose abortion can be discriminated against. Dr Everett Julyan, a Christian doctor and trainee GP in Scotland, was refused a place on a GP training scheme in 2000, as he refused to participate in abortions. As a result of press coverage showing an increasing opposition to abortion among many doctors both in primary and secondary care, some of the key medical organisations are making statements condemning doctors who have concerns about abortion. Recently, Marie Stopes, the abortion provider, has started a campaign targeted at doctors who refuse to take part in abortion, urging patients to report their doctors to the GMC (General Medical Council, the regulatory authority of doctors, which can strike doctors off the medical register, thereby ending their medical careers). Please pray especially for the British Medical Association (BMA), the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), the Royal College of Nursing and the General Medical Council that they would uphold the conscience clause for all health professionals to opt out of abortion

Professor Mayur Lakhani claims GPs who are opposed to abortion are imposing their prejudices on patients.

Doctors' leaders condemn anti-abortion GPs The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association (BMA) today expressed their support for the 1967 Abortion Act and warned doctors that their moral judgements should not take precedence over the welfare of their patients. Dr Ann McPherson, the head of the RCGP's teenage health taskforce, said it was wrong to allow doctors to opt out of providing abortions because of their religious or moral beliefs. She said, "It was a mistake to allow conscientious objection. I think providing abortion is part of the job. I feel very worried that there's a drift not to allow a woman choice and to make people feel bad about abortion." Professor Mayur Lakhani, Chairman of the RCGP, said that some GP practices already made it clear to patients what the GP's views on abortion were. He added there was a strong case for making all practices advertise their doctors' views. He added that the RCGP's patient forum would be looking at how to do this. The professor said, "It's unacceptable for a GP to impose their prejudices on a patient." (The Guardian, 3 May 2007)
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Day 22 International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) key player in the international abortion scene

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is the largest organisation that promotes abortion worldwide, with regional offices in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Arab world and the Americas. IPPF was formed in 1952 at the Third International Conference on Planned Parenthood in Bombay, India. The IPPF is the parent body to the UK Family Planning Association (fpa), but also the parent body to family planning organisations around the globe. The IPPF is registered as a charity in the UK. In 2004, the IPPF had an income of just over US$96 million, of which originates from various governments, including the UK government. Recently, the UK government increased its contribution to the IPPF by 33%. The IPPF calls for sexual and reproductive rights, which means that women and girls should have access to sexual health and contraceptive services including abortion. This access to safe abortion is described as an essential human right and therefore should be guaranteed for everyone, being provided to the fullest extent permitted by law. (All quotes taken from the IPPF website www.ippf.org.) There is currently a push underway to get abortion easily available in Africa, a continent where abortion traditionally has been quite rare. When praying about IPPF, we need to recognise that many who work in this organisation are genuinely convinced that what they are doing is a good work, for example, by making sure that women have access to safe abortions.

Day 23 Forced abortions in China

One of the countries which has the worst human rights violations to do with abortion is China. The planned birth policy of China, often called onechild policy in the West, has been severely criticised because of serious human rights violations. Indeed, there is evidence that forced sterilisations, forced abortions and even infanticide occur.

Chen Guangcheng, blind human rights activist

In 2005 it was reported that more than 120,000 people in eastern Shandong province alone had been forced to undergo abortions and sterilisations over the preceding few months, said Chen Guangcheng, 34, a blind social activist from Linyi town in eastern Shandong, where some of the worst cases occurred. Some women were in their last month of pregnancy and died during the process. Days after making this comment in Beijing, Chen was ambushed on the street by plain clothes security officers from Shandong, who bundled him into a car and took him back to Linyi. There Chen found himself under de facto house arrest, where he remains, even though no charges have been filed against him. (Indian Telegraph, 24 October 2005). The Chinese family planning association has been a member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation IPPF since 1983, according to the IPPF website. IPPF, therefore, has a responsibility regarding the forced abortion policy in China. It is important to note that there are non-coercive methods of population control that other countries have successfully adopted.
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Please pray for Chen Guangcheng and all those who are courageously speaking out against the coercive family planning policies of China.

Testimony by Gao Xiaoduan before the US Senate

In 1998, Gao Xiaoduan, former family planning officer with the Chinese government, told the US Senate Committee on Human Rights about the brutal and unsanitary coerced abortions in China and how pregnant women fled into hiding. She stated: Once I found a woman, who was nine months pregnant but did not have a birth-allowed certificate. According to the policy, she was forced to undergo an abortion surgery. In the operation room I saw how the aborted child's lips were sucking, how its limbs were stretching. A physician injected poison into its skull, and the child died, and it was thrown into the trash can. (Daily Telegraph, 4 August 2001)

Day 24 The UK abortion providers BPAS & Marie Stopes

We suggest you pray for those groups and companies that provide abortion services. The key organisations providing abortion in the UK outside the NHS are the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) and Marie Stopes. Marie Stopes was a key person in the family planning movement and a key person in the sexual revolution see text box next page. It is ironic that both BPAS and Marie Stopes are charities. 55% of all abortions that are paid for by the NHS are carried out by BPAS or Marie Stopes. Please pray that those involved in providing abortions in these organisations would change their mind. There are sufficient examples of high-profile individuals former abortionists - who changed their mind on this subject (see next two days). BPAS, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, and Marie Stopes describe themselves as leading provider of abortion services in the UK. BPAS performs half of NHS-funded abortions undertaken outside the NHS. BPAS provides abortions to almost 50,000 women every year approximately 4,000 of them from overseas (including Ireland and Northern Ireland). Marie Stopes state that they help over 112,000 women and men each year in the UK. In addition, Marie Stopes Global Partnership provides sexual and reproductive health information and services to 4.8 million people worldwide in 38 countries across Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. If a woman travels from abroad or chooses to have a private abortion, the cost would range between 485 and 1,640, depending on the method and gestation. BPAS was formed in 1968 and as an abortion provider remains a registered charity (Registered Charity No 289145). Please pray especially for Ann Furedi, the outspoken Chief Executive of BPAS and Li. (All information about BPAS and Marie Stopes taken from their website www.bpas.org and www.mariestopes.org.uk)

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MARIE STOPES
Marie Stopes (18801958, died of breast cancer) was a highly intelligent woman (she took and passed three degrees, in the same year), author, feminist and campaigner for women's rights. She started the family planning movement. The organisation that bears her name, Marie Stopes International, works in 40 countries across the world and is one of the largest providers of family planning and abortion services outside the National Health Service in the UK. Married Love an explicit sex manual Her book Married Love, which was written after a disastrous first marriage was, as one of the first sex manuals using very explicit language, quite controversial and influential. The book sold 2,000 copies within a fortnight and over a million in total Married Love was also published in America, but it was promptly banned.

Marie Stopes

She writes about marriage, Far too often, marriage puts an end to woman's intellectual life. Marriage can never reach its full stature until women possess as much intellectual freedom and freedom of opportunity within it as do their partners. She was, however, cautious about openly expressing her liberal views on sex outside marriage. Family planning movement and the sexual revolution Stopes opened the UK's first family planning clinic in North London in 1921. The clinic offered a free service to married women and also gathered data about contraception. The opening of the clinic created a very significant social change of the 20th century, where women could take control over their fertility, thereby separating sex from procreation. Marie Stopes was involved in the formation of the the Family Planning Association in 1939. Marie Stopes was at the forefront of the sexual revolution through cultivating the myth of sexual ignorance. People according to her teaching were ignorant in sexual matters, hence the need to educate about sex, using explicit language. This notion forms the root of the sex education movement and the basis of value-free sex education applied in schools today. This approach could well be one of the key causes of the poor sexual health among UK adolescents, including high teenage pregnancy and abortion rates. Marie Stopes, family planning and eugenics Stopes was also a prominent campaigner for the implementation of policies inspired by eugenics. Britain's first family planning clinic reflected her eugenicist views, encouraging the lower classes to have fewer children. In her Radiant Motherhood (1920) she called for the "sterilization of those totally unfit for parenthood (to) be made an immediate possibility, indeed made compulsory." Even more controversially, her The Control of Parenthood (1920) declared that "utopia could be reached in my life time, had I the power to issue inviolable edicts ... (I would legislate compulsory sterilization of the insane, feeble-minded) ... revolutionaries ... half-castes." Stopes even cut her son Harry out of her will for marrying a near-sighted woman named Mary Eyre Wallis. Stopes wrote, "She has an inherited disease of the eyes, which not only makes her wear hideous glasses so that it is horrid to look at her, but the awful curse will carry on and I have the horror of our line being so contaminated and little children with the misery of glasses ... Mary and Harry are quite callous about both the wrong to their children, the wrong to my family and the eugenic crime." Following Stopes' death in 1958, a large part of her personal fortune went to the Eugenics Society. Spiritual roots of her views Not surprisingly, much of her views are rooted in opposition to the Christian faith and much of her campaigning was against the Church: I am out for a much greater thing than birth control. I am out to smash the tradition of organised Christianity. In a message to the Anglican Bishops 1920 Lambeth conference, she wrote a message entitled A new gospel to all peoples: a revelation of God uniting physiology and the religions of man. She wrote, My Lords, I speak to you in the name of God. You are His priests. I am His prophet. She stated that God commanded the couple should use the best means of birth control discovered by science.
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Day 25 Those who speak out against abortion: Dr Bernard Nathanson

There are a number of high-profile individuals who have dramatically changed their mind about abortion. One of the most prominent of these is Dr Bernard Nathanson. A gynaecologist, Dr Nathanson was a key person involved in legalising abortion in the US. He supervised the first and largest abortion clinic in the world, the Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health in New York City. In the first year, this Center performed more than 60,000 abortions. Dr Nathanson became deeply troubled by the insight that he had presided over 60,000 deaths and changed his position to being anti-abortion. Dr Nathanson was eventually baptised into the Catholic Church, which is remarkable, considering that he described himself as Jewish atheist. He describes the tactics used to make abortion acceptable and why he changed his mind about abortion. What he writes is highly relevant for today and the strategies used by those who are promoting abortion (see text box next page). Dr Nathanson put together the very dramatic account in the documentary The Silent Scream (www.silentscream.org) of an abortion being carried out, while the process was being viewed through ultrasound. This shows very distressing images of a baby being aborted. Please pray for him and for all those who in the past were involved in performing abortions but have now changed their mind.

Day 26 Those who speak out against abortion: Norma McCorvey

Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe) was the plaintiff in what is perhaps the most famous and controversial US Supreme Court case, the 1973 decision to strike down as illegal state laws that would restrict abortion: Roe v. Wade. The central holding of Roe v. Wade was that abortions are permissible for any reason a woman chooses, up until the point at which the foetus becomes viable. The case began in 1970. McCorvey claimed her pregnancy was the result of rape, although she now says her claim was false. In a dramatic turnaround, Norma was befriended by a Christian minister, was baptised and is now actively campaigning against abortion. (see text box p. 31) Please pray for her and for all those who have changed their minds about abortion. Please pray for many more to change their minds.

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Dr Bernard Nathanson on how the abortion movement started with lies

We fed the public a line of deceit, dishonesty, a fabrication of statistics and figures. We succeeded [in breaking down the laws limiting abortions] because the time was right and the news media co-operated. We sensationalized the effects of illegal abortions and fabricated polls, which indicated that 85% of the public favoured unrestricted abortion, when we knew it was only 5%. We unashamedly lied, and yet our statements were quoted [by the media] as though they had been written in law. There was only silence from the opposition. We fed a line of deceit, of dishonesty, of fabrication of statistics and figures; we coddled, caressed, and stroked the press. () We were calling ourselves pro-abortionists and pro-choice. In fact what we were was abortifiers: those who like abortion. Let me digress and speak for a moment on the question of pro-choice, as they euphemistically call themselves now. I reject that phrase, that euphemism. It is misleading. It is dishonest. It implies that in the issue of abortion there is an ethical choice whether to have an abortion or whether not to have an abortion Of course abortion is not an ethical choice. In February of 1971, I organized and ran the Center for Reproductive and Sexual Health, another amusing euphemism for an abortion clinic. It was not just an abortion clinic. It was the abortion clinic. It was in New York and, curiously, it was established and fed by the Clergy Consultation Service, an organisation of 1,200 Protestant Ministers and Jewish Rabbis, who took it upon themselves to funnel through 60,000 young women in the space of 19 months that I ran it. The Clergy Consultation Service Id never known that clergymen were actively involved in abortion before, but my eyes were opened It was a $5 million-a-year business. Think now how many handicapped children could be helped, how much cancer research could be done, how many operations of a decent sort could be carried out on poor people with that kind of money! The discussion has been muddied by a resort to a particularly vicious brand of antiCatholicism, as many of you know, in the press. There have been ongoing attempts to paint this movement [the pro-life movement] as a Catholic movement, and there have been almost heartbreaking lies and libel in the press on this score. If you ever substituted for the word Catholic, in many of these publications, the word Jewish of black, you would be immediately castigated. The press would destroy you. However, because the word Catholic is used, it appears to be allowable. Why did I change my mind? Well, to begin with, it was not from a religious conviction I am an atheist In any case, the change of mind began with the realization, the inescapable reality, that the foetus, that embryo, is a person, is a protectable human life. The change also began on the basis of my own secular belief in the golden rule: if you would not have your own life taken away from you, you must not take someone elses life. (Dr Nathanson is quoted in John Powell,
Abortion: The Silent Holocaust, 1981.)

Some more lies told by the pro-abortion movement:

The statistics of maternal mortality due to self-induced abortion were grossly exaggerated. Dr Nathanson writes, How many deaths were we talking about when abortion was illegal? In NARAL (National Association for Repeal of Abortion Laws) we generally emphasized the drama of the individual case, not the mass statistics, but when we spoke of the latter it was always 5,000 to 10,000 a year. I confess that I knew the figures were totally false, but in the morality of our revolution, it was a useful figure, widely accepted, so why go out of our way to correct it with honest statistics? The official figure of maternal death due to illegal abortion before abortion was legalised was 160. Dr Nathanson estimates the actual figure to be around 500 maternal deaths per year.
(Bernard Nathanson, Richard Ostling, Aborting America, Pinnacle Books, New York, 1979)

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The Real Story about Jane Roe

Poor, pregnant, and desperate, Norma McCorvey fell into the hands of two young and ambitious lawyers. They were looking for a plaintiff with whom they could challenge the Texas state law prohibiting abortion, and Norma signed on. Little did she know that her signature would one day make her an international figure. Though she was touted as a symbol of everything women could gain by being free to choose an abortion, the real Jane Roe was an embarrassment to the image that the Ivy League feminists tried so hard to project. Norma was uneducated, unskilled, a drug user, and an alcoholic. She became a helpless pawn in a powerful game. Working inside the abortion industry, Norma saw how abortion degraded women; she was surprised at the exorbitant dollars that kept rolling into the doctors' pockets; she saw the blatant exploitation, as abortion advocates put political rhetoric above safe medicine; and she eventually began to question the movement for which she once said she "lived and breathed". Eventually, the controversial pro-life group, Operation Rescue, moved in next door to Norma's abortion clinic. A little girl's affection, a mother's trust and a gregarious man's friendship surprised Norma, and eventually led her to consider the love, forgiveness, and hope offered by Jesus Christ. Norma's ensuing conversion shocked the world. The picture of her baptism made headlines in international newspapers. "The poster child for abortion just jumped off the poster," one pro-lifer said, "and into the arms of Jesus Christ."

Norma McCorveys baptism

The court case, Roe v. Wade, was supposed to be about a person - as all cases before our justice system are supposed to be - but it simply was not. There is a dark side to Roe v. Wade. Why? Because the plaintiff herself was not the focus, rather the focus was the political ideologies of two young lawyers. So, who is Jane Roe? She went from saying, "I had a reputation to protect, after all. As the plaintiff in the infamous Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, my life was inextricably tied up with abortion. Though I had never had one, abortion was the sun around which my life orbited. To saying, I'm one hundred percent sold out to Jesus and one hundred percent pro-life. I like to say, No exceptions. No compromise." Her story cannot be written off, because once the whole story is known, the truth shines forth. Norma McCorvey's story is truly a miracle. Her story is not as simple as from, to; her story is one that is full of hardship, darkness, and hate - but ultimately her story is one of triumph.
(The above is taken from her website www.crossingoverministry.org.) 31 Campaigning against abortion

Day 27 Organisations that support women in a crisis pregnancy

There are a number of organisations in the UK that offer support for women who consider having an abortion. These organisations also offer counselling and practical support for women (and men) who have suffered as an effect of abortion. For further details, please contact the respective organisations and their websites. Please pray especially for:

British Victims of Abortion

British Victims of Abortion Olympic House, 142 Queen St Glasgow, G1 3BU Tel 0141 226 5407 E-mail info@bvafoundation.org www.bvafoundation.org Helpline 0845 603 8501

Life
LIFE House, Newbold Terrace Leamington Spa; CV32 4EA Tel 01926 421587 E-mail info@lifecharity.org.uk www.lifeuk.org National Helpline 0800 915 4600

Right to Life CARE

53 Romney Street London; SW1P 3RF Tel 020 7233 0455 Email mail@care.org.uk www.care.org.uk PO Box 26264 London, W3 9WF Tel 020 8992 7657 E-mail Phyllis@righttolife.org.uk www.righttolife.org.uk

Image
Pregnancy helpline Tel 0845 330 8466 Coverdale Centre, Coverdale Crescent, Manchester, M12 4FG www.imagenet.org.uk Pregnancy help: E-mail kate@pregnancyhelpline.co.uk 32

Society for the Protection of Unborn Children

5-6 St Matthew St; London, SW1P 2JT Tel 020 7222 5845 E-mail information@spuc.org.uk www.spuc.org.uk

Day 28 Pray for those in authority

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:1-4) The Bible instructs us very clearly to pray for those in authority. Do we as Christians regularly follow this instruction? We live under those who God has put in authority above us. Those in authority above us have been placed there by God. Even though they may not know God, they have the potential to be good leaders, that is, if we in the Church regularly pray for them. We get the leaders we pray for. With the increasing secularisation and anti-Christian legislation, it is very important that especially now we pray for those in authority. Please pray for those in authority, that they would uphold the right to life and pass laws that are in line with Gods will.

Day 29 Politicians who speak out against the abortion problem

There are a small number of politicians who have over the years spoken out against abortion. Perhaps foremost among them is Lord David Alton, initially as an MP and later as a member of the House of Lords. The All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group is a group of MPs and Peers of all parties, who are involved supporting the pro-life cause both within and outside Parliament. The Chair of the group is Jim Dobbin (Labour, Heywood and Middleton) and Vice-Chairman is Mrs Ann Winterton (Conservative, Congleton). Both have on many occasions defended human life inside and outside Parliament. Other MPs include Ann Widdecombe, Claire Curtis-Thomas, Dr John Pugh, Andrew Selous, Jeffrey Donaldson, Joe Benton, Angela Watkinson, Geraldine Smith, David Crausby, David Drew, David Taylor, Tom Clarke, Andrew Mackinlay, Joe Benton, Jim McGovern, Paul Goodman, Edward Leigh, Julian Brazier, David Amess, Alistair Burt, Paul Rowen. Peers include Lord Alton of Liverpool, Baroness Masham of Ilton, Lord Stallard. Contact details: Julia Capps, Clerk to the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group. Tel 020 7219 0968. E-mail Cappsj@parliament.uk. Website www.parliamentaryprolife.org.uk David Alton, Lord Alton of Liverpool, is a former Liberal Democrat MP, who now sits as a cross-bench member of the House of Lords. He was made a life peer in 1997. David began his career as a teacher for disabled children and was elected to Liverpool City Council as Britain's youngest City Councillor. He was elected as youngest MP in 1979. In 1987 he resigned as Liberal chief whip to campaign for his private members' bill, which aimed to stop late abortions. For ten years, Lord Alton was appointed Professor of Citizenship at Liverpool John Moores University and founded the Foundation for Citizenship there. Lord Alton established the human rights campaign, Jubilee Campaign. He has written a number of books including: Whose choice anyway? The Right to Life, 1988; Faith in Britain,1991; Citizen Virtues, 1999; Passion and Pain, 2003; Euthanasia: Getting To The Heart of The Matter, 2005; Abortion: Getting To The Heart of The Matter, 2005. Website www.davidalton.com. 33

Lord David Alton

Day 30 The Human Tissue & Embryos Bill

In the forthcoming weeks and months, one major Bill will be before Parliament, the Human Tissue and Embryos Bill. This Bill will entail a wide-ranging review of the way fertility treatment and research in embryos will be regulated. It may allow human cloning. It may open up the abortion debate, for example, by possibly allowing MPs to vote on the upper limit of abortions. There have been a number of grave concerns expressed about this Bill:

(Picture from www.bbc.co.uk)

Lack of an ethical framework: Without an ethical framework embryo experimentation and destruction could easily happen in any way that researchers consider to be in the interests of science. Potentially legalise human cloning: The provisions in the Bill are fairly flexible, so researchers who would want to clone humans may be allowed to do so. Creation of animal-human hybrids: The Bill would probably allow the creation of an embryo which is part human and part animal. Welfare of the child: Similarly, the Bill does not place the welfare of the child as paramount, but considers this as just one of several aspects to be considered. Need for a father: Not surprisingly, the Bill may do away with the need for a father before an embryo is created artificially. This could mean, that a lesbian couple or a single mother could have a child. Similarly, two gay men could have a child together through surrogacy. There are many other issues, such as the deliberate creation of saviour siblings, prenatal sex selection, the altering of embryo cells, liberalisation of surrogacy provisions and the sale of sperm over the internet. In all these areas, the Bill would likely lead to a further liberalisation of regulations. Please pray about this Bill and for the provisions in it. Please pray for Gods perfect will to be done in this situation. For more information on this Bill, please contact the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life group (see previous day).

Day 31 Assisted conception and in-vitro fertilisation IVF

It is ironic, that, while there are over 210,000 abortions a year, there is an increasing demand for assisted conception, for example, through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). While obviously it would be unlikely that this could be proved medically, we believe that spiritually, there is a connection between increasing problems with conceiving infertility and the widespread practice of abortion. Abortion is part of the culture of death and this creates a spiritual atmosphere where life is not welcome, resulting in miscarriage or infertility. Many couples desperate for a baby turn to IVF, perhaps not fully aware that this is emotionally and physically very demanding. The overall rate of take home babies per cycle of IVF is only around 22% (25% for women under the age of 38); in other words, only about one in four attempts of IVF lead to a successful pregnancy and birth, as there are many problems in between. 34

Many who start IVF treatment are not aware of the ethical problems associated with it, for example, a number of eggs will be fertilised, resulting in a large number of embryos, of which only one to two (up to three in women over the age of 40) can be inserted at any one cycle. Therefore a number of embryos are left over that cannot be implanted. These spare embryos can be kept frozen in case there will be a later attempt at IVF. Other possibilities include that they may be donated to other women, they may be used for research (which essentially means that they will be destroyed) or they can be destroyed immediately. All these possibilities are ethically quite problematic. The cost of a cycle of IVF is in the region of 2,500 to 3,000 (excluding drugs) this would be paid for by the NHS if the couple were eligible. Please pray for couples who have difficulties in conceiving. From a spiritual point of view, infertility is an expression of the denial of life.

Day 32 Embryo experimentation

Do we believe that life begins at conception? Or do we believe that somewhere in human development there is a quantum leap, where something that is not human suddenly becomes human? Looking at the development of the embryo, there is no break, as there is a continuous development from conception throughout the development in the womb until birth (and after birth). Indeed, if the entity that was experimented upon were not human and alive, there would be little interest in researching it! Embryo experimentation which invariably leads to the destruction of embryos is nothing but destructive research on living human beings, human beings that are too small to give or refuse consent to research that leads to their own destruction. Since embryo experimentation began, nearly two million embryos have been used for medical research, in order to find cures for diseases, a cure that is still very far off. The source of these embryos can be embryos from IVF (see previous day) or embryos specifically produced for research. Much of the research using embryos has to do with embryonic stem cell research. However, to our knowledge, there has not been one effective application of research based on embryonic stem cells into clinical practice. However, there are a number of well-established treatments using adult stem cells, i.e. stem cells derived from adult cells. One well-known example is bone marrow transplant. Please pray for a change in the attitude of the public and especially of the government towards embryo experimentation. Soon, there will be the Human Tissues and Embryo Bill that could well liberalise this area even more. There is also a battle going on in Europe over whether embryonic stem cell research should or should not be allowed. A number of countries including Germany, which has banned embryonic stem cell research want this ban to be extended to the whole of Europe.

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Day 33 Sexual health & secrecy

In 1978, a young mother, Victoria Gillick, heard about contraceptive clinics for schoolchildren for the first time. Even the press had noted that there was something decidedly strange about family planning for schoolchildren. Victoria Gillick noted that at that time the most extraordinary aspect of these clinics was that the clinic staff had made it widely known throughout schools and youth clubs that schoolgirls of any age could get contraceptive pills with an absolute guarantee that nobody especially not their parents would be told of their sexual relationships or of the drugs they were being prescribed It became clear that this would even apply to abortions for underage girls, that even in these instances there would be confidentiality, i.e. secrecy. Following this, Victoria Gillick sought a declaration from the High Court that a memorandum from the Department of Health allowing doctors to prescribe contraception or perform abortions on underage girls without parental knowledge and consent would be illegal. The High Court ruled against her, but the Court of Appeal ruled in her favour. As a result, for a short while, underage girls could not attend family planning clinics. The result of this was contrary to what, for example, the Government or the family planning association claimed no further rise in the annual increase in underage conceptions observed before the ruling, together with a slight reduction in the underage abortion rate. The Government then appealed to the House of Lords, which ruled against Victoria Gillick. In 2005, Sue Axon, a mother of five, challenged the Department of Health guidance that would require doctors to essentially refer underage girls for terminations without parental knowledge or consent, if the girl did not want her parents to be informed. Sue Axon lost her legal challenge, too. Abortion is not talked about. Women who are referred for a termination are usually asked whether they can be contacted at home or whether they would prefer that another address or contact details be used. The case of Melissa Smith (see text box next page) shows that terminations in underage girls are being carried out without parental knowledge. Please pray that there will be a change in culture, that there will be less secrecy and more openness in this difficult issue.

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The secret abortion of a 14-year old

The case of schoolgirl Melissa Smith, who had a secret abortion aged 14, shocked many across the UK who were unaware their daughters could be given terminations without their parents being informed

Nottinghamshire schoolgirl Melissa Smith fell pregnant in April 2004 and, after talking to a school health worker, she decided to have a termination. Within days her mother found out what was happening and the teenager changed her mind, but by then it was too late. A local education authority spokeswoman said teachers were not legally bound to tell parents if pupils became pregnant. The mother, Maureen Smith, told BBC News her daughter had been too afraid Melissa became pregnant again to say she wanted to keep the baby until by her boyfriend Dwain Smith [no relation] they had talked. "She was frightened. She felt she had let me down - but when she realised the support she would have got, she changed her mind." Once Mrs Smith found out about the pregnancy, she talked to her daughter and brought the child's father and his mother into the discussion. They decided to keep the baby and contacted the local hospital, as Melissa had only taken the first of two pills as part of a chemical abortion. At first they were told the foetus would not be affected, but the next day they discovered it would be. "They said, 'It is too late - it has already starved the baby of oxygen. She will have to come in for the procedure or she will miscarry anyway in three or four weeks.' She was quite upset". Secrecy and lies She did not believe in abortion - but her daughter had been talked into having one, she said. And the school had not told her the full details about her daughter's circumstances, Mrs Smith added. "They rang up and said, 'Why is your daughter not in school?' I said, 'She is in school.' And they said, 'She is not.' So I rang her mobile - but it was switched off. They rang up an hour later and said, 'Sorry, it was a mistake - she is in school.'" But Mrs Smith later found out her daughter had not been in school - she had been at the hospital having a scan. "I tried to contact my daughter on her mobile phone - but it was switched off. What I didn't realise was she was up at the hospital having the abortion pill - it was too late." Maureen Smith publicly admonished her daughter's school for not contacting her, after a health worker had failed to persuade Melissa to tell her mother about the pregnancy. "If something had gone wrong with Melissa's abortion, I wasn't supposed to know. She was going there [the hospital] with another 14-year old for support." When Mrs Smith found out, she "felt like someone had punched me in the stomach". "I did not know what to do, I was in total shock - I could not believe it. It took my rights away as a mother completely." Regrets and another pregnancy Melissa now regrets losing the baby and wishes she had involved her mother in the decision. In an interesting twist to the tale, Melissa, now aged 16, is about to give birth in what her mother believes is an attempt to replace the baby she lost.
(Sources http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/3709681.stm; and http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/real_story/4703453.stm)

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Day 34 Abortion & the sexual revolution

The massive increase in abortion is clearly connected to the sexual revolution. As a result of the sexual revolution, sex and procreation became separate, sex outside marriage became increasingly acceptable, and marriage has been undermined with fewer marriages, more cohabitation and increase in divorce. Simultaneously, there has been a dramatic increase in sexually transmitted diseases. Abortion is an answer to the by-product of sexual promiscuity unwanted pregnancy. At the root of the sexual revolution were individuals such as Marie Stopes (see Day 24), Margaret Sanger and Alfred Kinsey. At the beginning of the sexual revolution were lies and fraudulent research (see text box). The sexual revolution started with a lie and like anything that starts with a lie we recall the statements by Dr Nathanson (see Day 25) - it leads to destruction on an unprecedented scale. Please pray that we in the Church would again uphold the right teaching on love, sex and morality. Please pray for protection especially of children and adolescents from the extreme sexual imagery and messages broadcast daily in the media.

The sexual revolution based on fraudulent research involving paedophilia

It is widely accepted that two of the key publications starting the sexual revolution were Dr Alfred Kinseys Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953). It was claimed by him that 85% of males in the US have sexual intercourse prior to marriage, that nearly 70% have sex with a prostitute and between 30% and 45% of husbands have extramarital intercourse. In the female report it was claimed that premarital sexual intercourse was beneficial for women. Particularly worrying are his assertions about childhood sexuality. He claims to have found that children are sexual beings, even from infancy, and that they could and should have pleasurable and beneficial sexual interaction with adult partners, who could lead them into the proper techniques of fulfilling sexual activity. (Judith Reisman, Edward Eichel, Kinsey, Sex and Fraud, Huntington House, Lafayette, 1990). Kinseys research on childhood Alfred Kinsey sexuality is based on fraudulent claims. He states that the information on the orgastic response of children was gained through nine men. In reality, the data were gathered by only one man. Kinsey claims that some of these men were technically trained persons, whatever that means The only way this research we need to remember that he assessed the sexual response in children as young as two months! could have been collected was through paedophile activity. This is confirmed in a statement by the director of the Kinsey Institute John Bancroft (emphasis mine): The focus of the attacks [on Kinsey] was data presented in the Male volume, reporting various aspects of orgasm observed in pre-adolescent boys ranging in age from 2 months to 15 years Whereas he had some information of this kind from parents and teachers simply observing children, he obtained more from men who had been sexually involved with young boys and who had in the process observed their orgasms. Having therefore made it clear that he was referring to adults who had been involved in illegal sexual interactions with children, he went on to say, "nine of our adult male subjects have observed such orgasm. Some of these adults are technically trained persons who have kept diaries or other records we have secured information on 317 pre-adolescents who were either observed in self-masturbation, or were observed in contacts with other boys or older adults." Kinsey was also intrigued by the various ways in which orgasm was experienced. He combines evidence provided from the above source on 196 pre-adolescent boys with descriptions obtained from adults or their partners to produce a list of six different types of orgasm. Two of these types involve signs which in other circumstances would be regarded as distress, such as sobbing or crying or hypersensitivity around orgasm which results in "violent attempts to avoid climax, although they derive pleasure from the situation...[and] quickly return to complete the experience, or have a second experience." As these descriptions were applied to pre-adolescent boys as well as adults, they have been taken by some to indicate that these children were being tortured. (The full statement can be found on http://www.indiana.edu/~kinsey.) 38

Day 35 Abortion & secular humanism

The groundwork for the legalisation of abortion has been laid by the ideology of secular humanism. Secular humanism is based on the rejection of any belief in God. The second Humanist Manifesto asserts that humans alone must solve existing problems, stating that no deity will save us; we must save ourselves (2nd Humanist Manifesto, American Humanist Association, 1973). Together with the rejection of God comes the rejection of moral absolutes. If there is no God, there no longer is any absolute truth and everything becomes relative, including moral values. Therefore, concepts such as right and wrong become irrelevant and are replaced by situational ethics, where it depends on the situation what is right or wrong. For example, in sex education (but also in drug education, or more generally in any ethical issue) this may mean to state, You have to make up your own mind what your standards are going to be There just arent any rules, you do whatever strikes your fancy. Secular humanism has been enormously effective in its influence over the educational system, both in schools and universities. Much of the value-free sex education we see today is rooted in secular humanism. Secular humanism has worked for and often succeeded in legalisation of almost everything: abortion, all drugs starting with cannabis, pornography, euthanasia and legalisation/acceptance of homosexuality. Some are convinced that the next big push will be the legalisation of paedophilia. Secular humanism has been very successful in invading the thinking of the Church and many in the Church, including many church leaders, would agree with many of the positions of secular humanism. Of particular concern is the combination of secular humanism and paganism see next day. Please pray that secular humanism would be exposed for what it is, an attempt to destroy the Christian faith, to destroy life and families. Please pray that in the Church we would resist secular humanism and proclaim the truth of the Gospel.

A brief summary of the humanist revolution: Destruction of faith, life, family and society
1. 2. 3. 4. The aim of humanism (note not the same as humanitarianism) is the annihilation of all traditional religion, all established governments and all human institutions, including the family. Humanists are involved in creating a one-world government and a one-world religion. Based on humanist principles, there is a powerful drive to: Replace traditional ethics with situational ethics based on utilitarian principles, thereby removing traditional values of right and wrong, for example, from sex education destroy traditional religion (which is seen as an obstacle to progress) destroy governments and nation states to create a new world order and one-world government destroy the traditional concept of family legalise euthanasia legalise abortion encourage population control encourage homosexuality legalise pornography legalise all drugs The Humanist Manifesto II (American Humanist Association, 1973) affirms the right to complete sexual freedom, birth control, abortion, divorce, euthanasia and suicide. Humanism aims to develop a system of world law and new world order based upon a transnational federal government, for example, under the auspices of the UN. 39

5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

10.

11. 12.

13.

14.

15. 16.

Humanists deny that God is creator and worship man as the Supreme Being. The Humanist Manifesto asserts that no deity will save us; we must save ourselves. Humanists accept Darwins evolutionary theory of mans origin, do not believe in a life after death, do not tolerate worship or prayer, formulate values through scientific methods and strive for control of all human institutions in order to impose humanist principles. The aim of Humanism is to destroy traditional religion: By the year 2000, institutionalised religion, , will have faded to a point where it is only of slight importance in the community. (Robert Mc Coy, President of the American Humanist Association, in 1968) The humanist religious initiative is to create a one-world religion based on uniting the religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Shintoism, Zoroastrianism, Unitarianism, Islam, Judaism & Christianity. There is a strong occult influence through the Theosophic Society and Lucis (formerly Lucifer) Trust. In humanist family policy, different kinds of marriage for different purposes at various times in the life of an individual are being advocated, claiming that traditional marriage is dead. Other Humanists advocate merging or reversing the sexes or sex roles, liberating children from their families and abolishing the family as we know it. Governments will take on many traditional functions of the family. In ethics, the humanist approach means rejection of absolutes, such as right and wrong. Instead, situational ethics is promoted. In sex education this may mean to state, You have to make up your own mind what your standards are going to be There just arent any rules, you do whatever strikes your fancy. In the humanist approach, ethics based on Judeo-Christian values have been replaced by situational ethics. There has been a profound influence of humanists on Christian Churches. Many members of Churches have supported humanist principles.. The humanist principle of situational ethics has been propagated by an ordained Episcopal minister, the Rev Joseph Fletcher. The humanist principles of sex education encompass seeing man as essentially an animal evolved in keeping with Darwins theory. Sex education is based on situational ethics, sets the child against the parent, aims to alienate children from their parents and has a negative outlook on the traditional family. In the area of sex education adultery, promiscuity, masturbation, pre-marital sex, essentially any sexual technique, and homosexuality can be seen as right under the right circumstances. The right to birth control, abortion and divorce is proclaimed. Sex education is tied to family planning and population limitation and policy. This means a concerted effort for population control, based on an attempt by governments to control human procreation. Birth control and contraception is seen as making a significant contribution to a new world order, creating one race in one world under one government. The drive to legalise abortion has been orchestrated through humanist organisations. The basic philosophy behind abortion uses a utilitarian view of life: if the foetus is not useful or convenient, we may dispose of it, like a chair or a car. Once this utilitarian outlook is accepted, once we admit that man has no inviolable right to life - but only rights depending on usefulness then none of us can be safe from annihilation. Humanists see Euthanasia together with abortion as one component of population control. Euthanasia, is an acceptable alternative to the unnecessary prolongation of life. For humanists, it must be remembered, that the dead, being non-existent, cannot regret being dead. If mothers can solve their socio-economic problems by legalised abortion, what then is to prevent the state from solving its socio-economic problems by compulsory abortion, euthanasia and other forms of legalised murder? Once euthanasia is accepted, the next logical step is the mercy killing of any person the state may regard as expendable, economically, socially or politically.

(Source: Chambers C, The SIECUS Circle; A Humanist Revolution, Belmont, 1977)

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Day 36 Abortion, paganism and occultism

Abortion/human sacrifice has been practised as pagan ritual in many cultures over many centuries, with Biblical references, such as the Canaanites sacrificing children to Baal/Molech, but also some Israelites being involved in child sacrifice, then the Carthaginians, more recently the Aztecs, but also Celtic and Germanic tribes. Recently, the sacrament of abortion has been celebrated by feminist writer Dr Ginette Paris, who wrote books such as Pagan Meditations and Pagan Grace. In her book The Sacrament of Abortion (see text box below) she makes statements such as, It is not immoral to choose abortion; it is simply another kind of morality, a pagan one or Our culture needs new rituals as well as laws to restore abortion to its sacred dimension, which is both terrible and necessary. From survivors of ritual abuse we know that abortions are to this day being carried out as part of occult rituals, where victims are raped, the ensuing pregnancy aborted and the dead baby being sacrificed. Those who have experienced ritual abuse describe that obviously illegal terminations are being carried out as part of these rituals, often by qualified healthcare professionals, such as gynaecologists who are also involved in the occult. It may be possible that some occult groups in this country are partially funded by the proceeds of abortion. We need to recognise the full spiritual dimension of abortion. The battle against abortion is primarily a spiritual battle. Please pray for a stop to pagan/occult activity to do with abortion. Pray that those who are trapped in the occult would find freedom.

The Sacrament of Abortion

The Sacrament of Abortion is the title of a book written by Ginette Paris and published in 1992. In this short book, the author claims that abortion is a sacred act, a sacrifice to Artemis (known to the Romans as Diana). Artemis is both a protector of wild animals and a hunter who kills them with deadly aim. How can these contradictory roles be found in the same female deity? The view proposed in this book is that a mother properly cares for life only if she possesses full power over life and death. Death is sometimes preferable. The one who can provide death, in order that one may escape an unfriendly life, is really loving the one who is being killed. Abortion, then, is seen as "an expression of maternal responsibility and not a failure of maternal love". "Artemis stands for the refusal to give life if the gift is not pure and untainted As Artemis might kill a wounded animal rather than allow it to limp along miserably, so a mother wishes to spare the child a painful destiny". Artemis, of course, is the same goddess whose worshippers felt so threatened by Paul's proclamation of the Gospel in Ephesus, where a riot nearly broke out and a vast crowd shouted for two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" (Acts 19:34). The worshippers of Artemis today should likewise feel that their beliefs are threatened, because the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ is that He alone has authority over life and death. Neither the mother, nor the father, nor the state, nor the individual herself, can claim absolute dominion over life. "Nobody lives as his own master, and nobody dies as his own master. . Both in life and death, we are the Lord's" (Rom. 14:7-8). The fact that some defend abortion as a sacred act should alert us to the depth of the spiritual warfare that is going on. Abortion has never been merely or even primarily a political issue. It is a false religion. When pro-life Christians, for example, pray in front of an abortion mill, it is not simply a matter of pro-life people opposing false medicine. It is the true Church in conflict with a false Church. One former clinic security guard, after being converted, admitted why he was angry at pro-life sidewalk counsellors: "You were coming to protest in front of our church. That clinic was where we conducted our worship." May all believers, and their clergy, take renewed strength to speak out against abortion. Not only is doing so consistent with the proclamation of the Gospel; it is the proclamation of the Gospel. From The Sacrament of Abortion by Fr Frank Pavone, Priests for
Life, www.priestsforlife.org. 41

Day 37 Abortion & euthanasia

After 40 years of abortion and over six million lives taken away what will be next? While perhaps the link is not immediately obvious, abortion and euthanasia are clearly linked. Both are about the denial of life. Both are part of the culture of death. Both are about a utilitarian view of life, where decisions are made that some lives are worth preserving, while others are not. Through abortion, women can solve their socio-economic problems to do with a pregnancy. If one continues with the same logic, what would stop the state solving its socio-economic problems to do with an ageing population (the overwhelming part of health costs occur in the last year of life) through euthanasia? Both abortion and euthanasia are promoted by secular humanism. There have been repeated attempts to legalise euthanasia in this country. However, there are grave concerns about legalising euthanasia. For example, in Holland, where euthanasia has been legalised, at least 1,000 adults and many childrens lives are being terminated by doctors against the patients wishes, or without consent. Lord Joffe, a cross-bench Peer in the House of Lords, has introduced his Assisted dying for the terminally ill Bill on several occasions and has vowed with the support of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society (now called Dignity in Dying) to continue to campaign for the introduction of euthanasia in the UK. A coalition of Christian and secular groups has come together to prevent euthanasia being legalised - the Care not Killing Alliance (website www.carenotkilling.org.uk). Please pray that euthanasia will not be legalised.

Some quotes on euthanasia

Once you accept killing as a solution for a single problem, you will find tomorrow hundreds of problems for which killing can be seen as a solution. (Dr Karel Gunning, a Dutch doctor and
opponent of euthanasia,)

Euthanasia, once accepted, is uncontrollable for philosophical, logical and practical reasons rather than slippery slopes of moral laxity or idleness. Patients will certainly die without and against their wishes if any such legislation is introduced. (Association for Palliative Medicine & the National
Council for Hospice & Specialist Palliative Care Services, 2003)

adequate safeguards around euthanasia and its oral form assisted suicide could not be put in place. All the evidence emerging from Holland, Belgium, Oregon and Australia supports the fact that one cannot have adequate safeguards. (Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, Professor of Palliative
Medicine, in a House of Lords)

The Netherlands has moved from assisted suicide to euthanasia, from euthanasia for people who are terminally ill to euthanasia for those who are chronically ill, from euthanasia for physical illness to euthanasia for psychological distress, and from voluntary euthanasia to involuntary euthanasia (called termination of the patient without explicit request). (Dr. Herbert Hendin, a psychiatrist and
President of the American Suicide Foundation)

I think very soon the right to die will become the duty to die.
Dame Dr Cecily Saunders, founder of the Hospice movement.

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Euthanasia, Eugenics and the destruction of life not worthy of life

Between 1939 and 1945 German physicians participated in a euthanasia programme established to kill life not worthy of life. At the end of the war, an estimated 270,000 victims - disabled people or people with mental illnesses, the elderly and idiots - were selected by doctors and terminated. This included approximately 8,000 infants with birth defects or congenital diseases such as Downs syndrome, and children with disabilities. The programme was expanded to include people with medical conditions such as epilepsy, polio, schizophrenia, paralysis and Huntingtons disease. The euthanasia programme demanded the co-operation of German doctors who decided who was to be killed. The intellectual preparation for this was done through a 1920 publication by two German professors, a professor of criminal law and a professor of psychiatry. Their book on euthanasia with the title Permitting the destruction of life not worthy of life was the first publication endorsing euthanasia by two highly respected academics. One of the authors had realised how much it cost the German state to maintain idiots. Euthanasia therefore would save huge amounts of money for the state. Proponents of euthanasia today argue that the experiences of Nazi Germany are irrelevant for the euthanasia debate. However, the ideology behind the euthanasia programme in the 1930s and 1940s in Germany was to deny the sanctity of life and to judge whether a life is worth living on a utilitarian principle, which is the same approach used by those favouring euthanasia today. Professor Michael Franzblau, professor of medicine at the University of California and a Nazi hunter who lost 25 relatives in the Holocaust, has researched the Nazi ideology behind euthanasia. He states, It is frightening to consider that many of the arguments made today by euthanasia advocates echo almost precisely the arguments made by Binding and Hoche and, after them, Hitler and the Nazis, as they implemented the euthanasia programme. (Quoted in Wesley J Smith, Forced exit. The slippery slope form assisted suicide to legalized murder, Spence Publishing, Dallas, 2003)

Day 38 Abortion & the divided Church

Right from the beginning, the attitude in the Church towards abortion has been ambiguous. There are those who have condemned abortion clearly. However, there are many who dont think that abortion is a problem or who failed to speak out. When abortion was legalised in this country in 1967, not all Lord Bishops in the House of Lords voted against abortion. Dr Nathanson described how a clergy consultation service funnelled tens of thousands of young women for abortion to his New York abortion clinic in the 1970s. The ethic that forms the basis of the sexual revolution situational ethics (there is no right or wrong, it all depends on the circumstances) - was developed by a church minister. Those who were involved in the 1967 campaign against abortion recall that the Church was not as active as it could have been. The voice of the Church was either silent or divided. Some are convinced that, if the Church at that time had spoken out with one voice, abortion would not have been legalised (or perhaps only much later). Please pray that we in the Church would have the courage to speak out with one voice on this. Please pray that we in the Church would have the readiness to take practical action, so that women who consider abortion would choose to continue with the pregnancy, as they receive the support they need.

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First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, & I did not speak out Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and by that time there was no one left to speak for me. Pastor Martin Niemller (1892-1984) prominent Protestant pastor of the Confessing Church in Germany who spent the last 7 years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.

Day 39 Repentance for 40 years of abortion

What is it that will make a difference to the issue of abortion? Is it not the repentance of Gods people? To repent that we have been silent when we should have spoken out, to repent that we have been passive when we should have been active, to repent that we did not choose life but death. Can we repent on behalf of the nation? There is a Biblical precedent, found in Daniel chapter 9 (see next page). Daniel and the people of Israel have been brought into captivity in Babylon because of the idolatry and sin of the people of Israel, sin that included child sacrifice (2 Kings 21). Yet even in exile, God wanted to heal Israel: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jer 29:11)

Day 40 Our own response to the abortion issue

While it may always be easy to condemn or to point fingers, we need to ask God to show what He wants us to do. How can we in the Church change society, so that abortion will be rare? How can we in the Church affirm life? How can we support women and especially young girls who are pregnant who consider an abortion? Many women who are opting for an abortion would change their mind if more support for example, help with the other children, help with housing or other practical support were available. We in the church need to recognise that we can make a difference. What should our response be? How can we support young women who fall pregnant and who would want a termination? What practical things can we do? Let us pray that we in the Church would be prepared to choose and cherish life, from conception to natural death, and set an example for the nation.

If you pray without serving, your prayers will be in vain. If you serve without praying, your service will be in vain. Go out to pray and serve in the power of the Spirit. Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
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Prayer of repentance on behalf of the nation

Based on Daniel chapter 9 I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. O Lord, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. (Dan 9:4-11) Let us pray O God, our great and loving God, We too have sinned and done wrong. We have turned from the Christian traditions of our fathers. We have ignored the teaching of your Word. We have allowed our laws to be changed. God of love and mercy: Forgive us and heal us In disobedience we have brought shame on the name of our God. In selfishness we have denied the love of God. In our lack of understanding and compassion we have destroyed life. God of love and mercy: Forgive us and heal us We have brought disaster on families and our society. We have undermined the integrity and authority of your Church. God of love and mercy: Forgive us and heal us Conclusion again from Daniel Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favour on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name. (Daniel 9:17-19; NIV)
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Epilogue

Fathers Love Letter

You may not know me, but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1 I know when you sit down and when you rise up. Psalm 139:2 I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3 Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. Matt 10:29-31 For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27 In me you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28 For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28 I knew you even before you were conceived. Jer 1:4-5 I chose you when I planned creation. Ephesians 1:11-12 You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Ps 139:15-16 I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. Acts 17:26 You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14 I knit you together in your mother's womb. Psalm 139:13 And brought you forth on the day you were born. Psalm 71:6 I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. John 8:41-44 I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. 1 Jn 4:16 And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1 Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. 1 John 3:1 I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. Matthew 7:11 For I am the perfect father. Matthew 5:48 Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. James 1:17 For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. Matthew 6:31-33 My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11 Because I love you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3 My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. Ps 139:17-18

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And I rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 I will never stop doing good to you. Jeremiah 32:40 For you are my treasured possession. Exodus 19:5 I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. Jeremiah 32:41 And I want to show you great and marvellous things. Jeremiah 33:3 If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Deuteronomy 4:29 Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 For it is I who gave you those desires. Philippians 2:13 I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. Ephesians 3:20 For I am your greatest encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. 2 Cor 1:3-4 When you are broken-hearted, I am close to you. Psalm 34:18 As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. Is 40:11 One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:3-4 And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. Rev 21:3-4 I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. John 17:23 For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26 He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3 He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. Romans 8:31 And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. 1 John 4:10 I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. Romans 8:31-32 If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. 1 John 2:23 And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. Romans 8:38-39 Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. Luke 15:7 I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Ephesians 3:14-15 My question isWill you be my child? John 1:12-13 I am waiting for you. Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad. www.fathersloveletter.com/flltextenglish.htm

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Lord, You gave us Life. You have come that we might have Life in all its abundance. You are a Living God and You want us to be fully alive. In a dying world we commit ourselves to value Life, to proclaim Life, to defend Life. Forgive us that we have created and embraced a culture of death and violence, that we have robbed precious individuals of their dignity, some even unborn, some grossly disadvantage in life, some frail and elderly, all made in Your image. Hasten the day when all humankind chooses Life, not death. Dennis Wrigley (Maranatha Community)

40 days of prayer for 40 years of abortion A DAILY PRAYER GUIDE for healing, hope and remembrance
In commemoration of the 40 ANNIVERSARY of the 1967 ABORTION ACT Further copies of this prayer guide can be downloaded free from www.timeforchange.org.uk
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