Spring is the best time of year for a pro-life protest. Not too cold like March for Life, and not too hot as with the Pro-Life Women's Conference. Spring also means the campaign, 40 Days for Life. For 40 days pro-life men and women stand outside of abortion clinics with positive and helpful signs reading:

"Need financial assistance? We can help."

"We love you both. There are options."

Below, Alex doing my favorite thing (holding a pro-life sign).

According to founder Katari Howard, 40 Days for Life has saved more than 12,472 babies since it's conception in the early 2000s, while Sidewalk Counselors for Life cites that abortion visits reduce by 60 percent when their prenatal care van and counselors are present, as women realize that alternatives to abortion exist. These resource vans are extremely high-tech, providing diagnostic ultrasounds, STD testing, and pregnancy tests for free. This is a huge contrast to the abortion giant, Planned Parenthood — a facility which makes enormous profits, but remains on corporate welfare (and is not a recognized OBGYN). According to Consumer Reports, Planned Parenthood has the most expensive and lowest quality birth control on the market. Side-walk counselors inform women of free or discounted clinics that provide actual gynecological services, since Planned Parenthood does not offer prenatal assistance, mammograms and performs less than one percent of pap tests in the nation.

On Saturday, I attended a 40 Days for Life campaign. 77 men and women from all over the state gathered in front of Planned Parenthood in Marietta, near Kennessaw State University (PP loves to prey on colleges and areas with concentrated minorities). We stood with signs that encouraged women to choose life for their babies and ultimately themselves, and offered information regarding free pregnancy resources and medical care for before and after birth. The event was scheduled for a non-abortion day. This is because, pro-lifers prefer side-walk counselors present on abortion days and reserve protests for Saturday when the facility is closed. Most people who past were extremely positive, and aside from one man pretending he was going to hit us with his car, the event had mostly positive encounters.

In 2017, abundant resources and volunteers exist to help women in crisis pregnancy. No one "needs" an abortion. Organizations like 40 Days for Life exist to protect both mother and child.