TACOMA, Wash. -- For 40 days, a small group is huddling on the sidewalk outside Planned Parenthood here to oppose abortion. Volunteers take shifts, holding signs and praying aloud along Martin Luther King Jr. Way.Up to 175 people are taking part in the vigil in Tacoma, one of more than 170 cities in the United States and Canada participating in "40 Days for Life."Their goal is to prevent abortions and stir up Christians to oppose abortion, said Peggy Ghigleri, director of the Tacoma campaign."A lot of the churches have become silent about abortion," said Ghigleri, a Tacoma homemaker and Catholic.Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Aurora Jewell said people with the Tacoma vigil have harassed and intimidated patients and staff members this fall at the Tacoma Health Center.Planned Parenthood provides volunteer escorts to walk with patients to and from their cars, Jewell said."They shouldn't have to be intimidated when they're trying to access health services," she said.Vigils and protests against abortion haven't been as prevalent in recent years. But abortion is still a volatile topic. It was an issue in the final presidential debate, with John McCain saying he opposes the Roe v. Wade decision and Barack Obama saying he supports a woman's right to choose.40 Days for Life takes what it says is the spiritually significant number 40 from the experiences of Moses, Noah and Jesus in the Bible.Joe Betz, 79, a retired Tacoma Community College math instructor, clutched a sign with the word "life" and a baby's picture during his hour-long shift last week.Evangelical Christian Pastor Tim Robinson, 62, of Puyallup, stood next to him holding a "stop abortion" sign.Betz, a Catholic who lives in Fircrest, said all abortion is wrong."I think it's against God's law because you are taking a life," he said. "I believe life begins at conception. We don't have a right to take a life."Ghigleri, 43, calls the street campaign a vigil, not a protest. This is the third campaign nationally and in Tacoma, since last fall.The faith-based effort locally targets the Tacoma Health Center of Planned Parenthood because abortions are performed there, said Ghigleri, who is expecting her eighth child in January.She said the volunteers offer information about abortion and alternatives, including adoption or keeping a baby.But Jewell, who works at the Tacoma office, said the anti-abortion volunteers have used derogatory language to patients and staff."As an employee, I get yelled at and harassed," said Jewell, 27, a public affairs worker with Planned Parenthood of Western Washington. She said she's been told to find a better job.Jewell declined to give more examples because she said she didn't want to repeat the language.Ghigleri said people with the campaign in Tacoma are not using derogatory language or otherwise harassing or intimidating patients or staff at Planned Parenthood."It's hard for me to see how a group of people praying could intimidate people," Ghigleri said. "We say, 'Let us help you if you need help.' "While Planned Parenthood does provide abortions, the majority of its work is to prevent unintended pregnancies and sexual infections, Jewell said. It provides birth control, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy testing, information about alternatives to abortion, and education about sexual health."We're doing more in one day to prevent unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion than these people are doing in 40 days," Jewell said.She said the anti-abortion campaign creates the false impression that the faith community doesn't support access to Planned Parenthood's services."There are many faith groups and religious groups that support a woman's right to choose," Jewell said.Ghigleri said the 40 Days for Life campaign nationally and locally has influenced expectant mothers not to have abortions and is reinvigorating what supporters call the pro-life movement."The goal of the campaign is to pray and fast for an end to abortion," Ghigleri said. "Abortion is against God's laws. God said, 'Thou shalt not kill.'"E-mail Steve Maynard at steve.maynard(at)thenewstribune.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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