John Redmond, an elder at The City Church, was among those who spoke June 15 at a pro-life rally near Planned Parenthood’s new Charlotte facility. ( Patricia L. Guilfoyle | Catholic News Herald) CHARLOTTE — A rally against Planned Parenthood’s new Charlotte location drew more than 300 people June 15 to Cherry Park.
The “Save Our Children” rally brought together pro-life advocates from Catholic and Protestant churches and organizations. It was organized by faith-based grassroots organizations including the Douglass Leadership Institute, the Black and Brown Coalition and the Church of God in Christ Family Life Initiative. Members of St. Ann Parish were also there with their pastor, Father Timothy Reid.
The clergy condemned abortion as a sin and as genocide against African-Americans, and they called Planned Parenthood “merchants of death.”
They called on people to combat abortion by supporting resources for pregnant women in need, educating people, and praying for a conversion of hearts.
Prayer must be at the heart of the pro-life movement, the speakers emphasized – for all life to be valued, for people to repent of the sin of abortion, and for God to have mercy on the City of Charlotte.
“My heart breaks for this community, this city,” said Davon Alexander of True Life Fellowship Church in Matthews. “We cannot be silent. We must stand as a church. We must stand as the People of God.”
“In this nation, for 46 years, 65 million children’s rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness have been denied,” said Pastor Leon Threatt of Christian Faith Assembly in Charlotte. “There are two great failures, I believe, that we face today: first, is the discovery of how to take life from within the womb... But I think the greatest failure of our generation is somehow we’ve learned to live with it and to be quiet while it’s occurring.”
White and black pastors prayed together at the rally, emphasizing that abortion is not a racial issue but “a Gospel issue.”
But pastors of majority African-American congregations noted that a majority of women who obtain abortions in Charlotte are African-American, and the city’s three abortion facilities are located in mostly black communities. Planned Parenthood’s new facility is located in the historically African-American Cherry neighborhood.
Of the 22,677 abortions in North Carolina in 2017, 45 percent (10,269) were African-American. Mecklenburg County is the state’s abortion capital – there were 9,912 abortions in Charlotte in 2017, more than anywhere else in the state.
“The number-one killer among ethnic minorities, among black folks, in our country is abortion,” said the Rev. Kevrick McKain, one of the rally organizers. “It’s time that it end during our generation, not someone else’s generation.”
“We’re killing the future of African-Americans,” said Reggie Isaac of Victory Christian Center, who was among those urging people to vote only for pro-life candidates in upcoming elections. “America needs to repent. We can’t sin and kill this many people and think we can get away with it.”
“We shall fast, we shall pray,” said John Redmond, an elder with The City Church of Huntersville.
As it was Father’s Day weekend, many speakers emphasized the critical role fathers must play in protecting and building up their families. Women wouldn’t seek abortion so readily, they noted, if the father of their unborn child accepted responsibility to care for that child.
“Fathers, we cannot allow social media, music and fashion to raise our children,” said one pastor. “We must have fathers taking their rightful place in their homes.”
Following the speeches, people marched silently down Torrence Street to Planned Parenthood’s expanded Charlotte Health Center, which is expected to open in July, then stopped and prayed outside the tall iron fence surrounding the facility.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
Get involved
- 54-Day Rosary Novena: Pray the rosary daily from Friday, June 21, to Wednesday, Aug. 14 (the feast of St. Maximillian Kolbe, patron saint of the pro-life movement, and the Vigil of the Assumption) with the intention of closing Planned Parenthood’s three locations in the diocese: Asheville, Charlotte and Winston-Salem. Then offer your Holy Communion on the Assumption, Aug. 15, a holy day of obligation, for this intention. Organized by the Carolina Pro-Life Action Network (C-PLAN). For details go to www.prolifecharlotte.org/event/rosary-novena or email Mike FitzGerald at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
- 40-Day Vigil: The daily vigil outside the new Planned Parenthood in Charlotte has been extended indefinitely. Sign up at www.signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/2799555/true#/invitation so that at least one person per day silently prays for one hour outside Planned Parenthood’s location at 700 S. Torrence St.
- Pray a Memorare: For the protection of the unborn and that the new Planned Parenthood in Charlotte may not open. The goal is for 2.35 million Memorares be offered to Our Lady by Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption. Keep track of your numbers prayed and record them at www.signupgenius.com/go/8050e4dada629a5ff2-stop.