Ever been to a war protest?

On Friday, Jan. 22, we are gathering on the bluff to protest a war far more deadly than any in which our country has ever been engaged: the war that’s being waged against our unborn children.

This aggression began on Jan. 22, 1973, with the U.S. Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade decision legalizing abortion for any reason at all or for no reason. Throughout the following 37 years this unrelenting attack has continued with an incredible fatality rate of 4,000 every day. In addition, perhaps we should count among the casualties the many women who have been wounded emotionally and sometimes physically from having abortions.

Since 1973, there have been over 50 million deaths from legalized abortion. Difficult as it is to believe, that’s 35 times the number of American lives lost in all armed conflicts in our nation’s history since the Revolutionary War. If ever there was a compelling reason to strongly protest a war, this has to be the time.

When this present administration began referring to the War on Terror as a “manmade disaster,” there ensued some debate as to the purpose of the new terminology. But I think we can all agree that this war on the unborn is without question a manmade disaster of the worst sort!

The earliest Americans believed in at least one entitlement. They declared that every person has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Life is listed first because without life, there is no liberty, nor opportunity to pursue happiness. These inalienable rights are being endangered even more by currently proposed legislation, which threatens to drastically increase the already horrifying death rate of innocent children. Our duty as people who care about the lives of these children and our country’s future is to speak out clearly again and again and to keep on speaking out until we are heard.

Please join us for a candlelight vigil at the gazebo on the bluff at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 22. Several area pastors will be participating and a special guest, Mississippi congressman Rep. Sam Mims, will bring us a message. Our program will be short, about 30 minutes, and we’ll supply the candles. We all need to stand together in support of life and in defense of those little ones who cannot defend themselves.

Now more than ever.

Virginia O’Beirne is the co-chair of Pro-Life Natchez-Adams County.