This Lent, Catholics across the archdiocese again joined 40 Days for Life—an annual campaign to pray outside of abortion businesses. This year, going beyond the campaign’s usual daytime hours, Adam Schad and John Beckstedt organized 78 men to fill the nighttime hours, enabling a 24-hour prayerful presence outside the Planned Parenthood on Auburn Avenue.

There’s an incredible view of the sunrise behind this Planned Parenthood. Those praying on the sidewalk from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. pause in their rosaries to gaze at the sky and contemplate the juxtaposition. A medical waste truck pulls through the gates next to the stark brick building; covered windows hide what happens inside. Rising above that, streaks of pink and orange light up the sky as a reminder that God’s creation is beautiful.

Early each morning, Planned Parenthood employees begin arriving, lunch boxes in hand; those praying by the gate often say good morning. The workers hurry past. At midday, traffic flows steadily up and down Auburn Avenue. Passersby witness small groups standing outside the fence praying, some sharing pregnancy center resources with women who are walking in. Passing cars sometimes honk in support. Others express disagreement.

Pam Bucher, who coordinates Old St. Mary’s involvement, said she’s never experienced a dangerous situation on the sidewalk, and confrontation is rare. It’s a relatively quiet part of the city, down the street from Christ Hospital, Holy Name Catholic Church, and two pregnancy centers.

Bucher has prayed outside Planned Parenthood for years, since she was pregnant with her first child. “I felt that life in my body—it awakened in me such a fire to fight for the babies nobody fights for!” she explained.

Praying in front of Planned Parenthood isn’t a dangerous act in Cincinnati, but it is a profound one. Bucher shares that it can be intimidating to look at someone as she walks in to have an abortion, but we need more encouragement to get the Church involved.

As the sun sets behind the apartments across the street, workers leave through the gate, avoiding eye contact. The watchers offer silent prayer that the workers will awaken to abortion’s harm. “Be a quitter!” is written in chalk on the sidewalk, to encourage their conversion, along with the phone number of a ministry that helps abortion workers escape the industry.

At 1:00 a.m., Auburn Avenue is mostly still. Drivers passing by see the men standing outside, keeping vigil. Only the street lights break the darkness, and the men’s occasional hymns in prayerful petition break the silence.

“If we’re not there, we’re saying it’s not that important,” said Mary Clark, Cincinnati’s 40 Days for Life campaign coordinator, noting that, like any civil rights effort, the pro-life movement needs to show up where the injustice is happening. Physical presence is crucial to Catholic witness—a symbol of Christ’s Presence with us. We should be encouraged after the Manhattan Planned Parenthood’s recent closing, Clark said. “If it can happen there, it can happen here.” We just need to show up, watch, and pray.

This article appeared in the May 2025 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.