Scottish Catholic Observer

A 40-day pro-life prayer vigil is to take place this Lent outside a Glasgow hospital where abortions happen.

It is the first time the 40 Days for Life Campaign which originated in the US—is to stage a vigil of this kind in Scotland.

Every day this Lent from 8am to 8pm, pro-life activists will gather outside the new Queen Elizabeth University hospital in the south of Glasgow to pray.

Long time pro-life activist Rose Docherty, from St Dominic’s parish in Bishopbriggs, is the Glasgow campaign director and said the ‘peaceful, prayerful’ event was about creating a culture of life in Scotland.

“There are more than 30 babies a day being aborted in Scotland,” she said. “This is a counter cultural message that people don’t want to hear, but it’s vital that they do.”

She said that the vigil—arranged with police and hospital permission—intended to raise awareness through ‘Christian witness.’

“It is not a demonstration,” she said. “We will be there every day quietly praying, we won’t approach people, there won’t be graphic images. If someone wants to come and talk to us that’s fine.”

Although the vigil is an act of ‘Christian witness,’ Mrs Docherty said ‘people of all Faiths and none who shared their goals were welcome to attend.’

She said that she was hopeful that Catholics would embrace the vigil and it would become ‘part of what they’re doing for Lent.’

40 Days for Life is an international group that campaigns against abortion by organising 40-day periods of protests outside of abortion clinics. It was originally started in 2004 by a local group in Bryan-College Station, Texas, and has since spread to 25 countries worldwide. Matt Britton, the chairman of the International 40 Days for Life organisation, will visit Glasgow just before Lent to talk to those activists involved.

Ross Colquhoun, international outreach director for 40 Days for Life, said he believed the Glasgow vigil ‘could be one of the strongest campaigns we’ve had in the UK.’

He said that, since 40 Days for Life had been founded in the US in 2005, it has helped 10,000 women ‘to choose life instead of abortion.’

“Since we’ve launched in the UK five years ago, we have been active at 25 vigil locations,” he said. “We have also found they really galvanise the local Christian community.”

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—This story ran in full in the January 15 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.