The experience of praying at an abortion clinic

On Saturday, I woke up early to pray with Bishop Burbidge and a group of dedicated pro-lifers outside an abortion clinic in northern Virginia. It was the first time I had ever prayed outside an abortion clinic.

The first thing I’ll note, as you can see from the picture above, is that the clinic itself is disgusting. You can see the sadness that is just oozing from it - it can’t be helped. Broken window shades, stains in the curtains, a lifeless building. This is what greets women already caught up in the heartbreak of their situation.

It reminded me of all the descriptions of Kermit Gosnell’s “house of horrors.”

And yes, I got emotional being there. It is both the tragedy of countless ended lives, but more importantly, the desperation, the sadness, the aloneness of women who feel they have no choice, and the choice they are given is…that. Imagine going into that building with all the weight you have about the decision, and being faced with such ugliness.

There were three abortion escorts who looked on us with amusement, one remarking “So fucking annoying” at one point. One was a man, which I find particularly depraved.

People took turns leading the different decades of the rosary, using phones to broadcast the prayers so we could all hear. It was still very quiet, and the cars passed, and the chilling drizzle came down.

What stayed with me was the smallness of the whole thing - one, a Bishop of the universal Catholic Church was there on the sidewalk, but those passing did not know. And, it was just a moment in time. The whole thing took about half an hour and I overheard several of the women saying they were going to Panera after.

So it is with the fight for life: a small, ongoing, eternal struggle which looks like nothing on the outside but has the power to affect law and the world as we know it, as we saw last June with Dobbs. Nothing is ever lost - God uses all we give back to Him, including, and especially, our prayers. There was also the inconvenience - the cold and the early time taking away from something more pleasant and more fun. But what could be more important than standing up for Jesus’s most vulnerable creation? What greater call could there be?

I will go back and do it again, on a day when the Bishop is not there. I admire those who have been at it for years. They are like the religious sisters and brothers who have been praying in their communities for decades, keeping the world on its axis, but in a way we out in the world will never see. Thank God for their prayers! And thank God for those who will allow themselves to look foolish to the world by praying in public outside an abortion clinic. It is not easy, but it is necessary, and it is a gift that helps the whole world.

By the way: what did I pray for? I prayed for the women inside, for their unborn children, and all those who came before them. I prayed for the fathers of those children, for their wider families, for a time when abortion is unthinkable. I also prayed that this particular clinic would close down, and that the Church would have enough resources to care for women in crisis. I prayed that more Catholics would stand up and provide those resources and see how they are a part of this matter, whether they like or realize it or not, because one injustice against the fabric of the human family affects us all. I prayed for a sincere culture of life to take root in this country.

Seem too big of prayers? With God, all things are possible!