By John Stegeman
The Catholic Telegraph

As thousands, including many from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, prepared to participate in the 2015 March for Life, roughly 100 residents of the area gathered to pray outside the Planned Parenthood location on Auburn Avenue in Cincinnati.

Cincinnati Young Adults for Life had promoted the event as the Cincinnati “Mini-March for Life.” Other groups, such as 40 Days for Life, had independently planned on being represented and the end result was a large crowd ranging in age from toddlers to the elderly, all gathered to mark the 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade decision.

Most at the prayer vigil appeared to be Catholic, participating in several rosaries throughout the hour.

Several children, including 8-year-old Jacob Eddingfield, took part in the prayerful demonstration. Eddingfield held a sign saying, “I survived Roe v. Wade! Saved by adoption.”

“Me, my dad and my aunt were adopted in my family,” Eddingfield said, explaining why the pro-life cause is important to him. “It is very special to have three people who were adopted.”

The young man, who held his sign towards traffic while others prayed facing the clinic, said his sign had been seen far and wide.

“I tweeted the picture of me and my sign on Twitter to EWTN, and Teresa Tomeo posted it on her Twitter page,” he said.

Participating in a pro-life event today? Tweet your pictures with #Telegraph4Life and we’ll retweet them. Also use the #AoCmarches.

Another participant, Leann Rodgers, said she came out to support those most likely to be aborted.

“The sheer numbers (of abortions), especially nowadays children with disabilities are on the uprise,” Rodgers said. “Because we apparently suffer if we’re allowed to live, especially autistic children.”

Rodgers, who described herself as a high-functioning autistic person, added that in addition to those with disabilities, women are often victims of abortion.

“I don’t know if people realize it but women are a large majority of babies being killed since now in America boys are preferred,” she said. “We’re in a fight for our existence.”

Participant Judy Horn would have been present outside Planned Parenthood today regardless of the anniversary. After initially being involved with 40 Days for Life, Horn now prays outside the clinic every Thursday from 11 a.m. to noon. She added that her granddaughter was present at the March for Life in Washington.

“I hope we get to see more of these people, maybe once a week or once a month,” Horn said. “Feel free to come up here. We need all the prayers we can get.”

Citing the Guttmacher Institute, National Right to Life reports that in 2011 there were 1.05 million abortions in the United States. The number of abortions taking place in the United States has decreased every year since 2006 according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has urged Catholics to join them in praying a novena called 9 Days for Life. The bishops urge the faithful to participate by joining local events, using their pro-life rosary intentions and other resources available at the USCCB website.

Posted Jan. 22, 2015