Quietly held signs mark Life Chain prayer event

WASHINGTON — As Life Chain gatherings formed across the country Sunday, Oct. 5, a small group of Washington County residents stood quietly along Sunset Park to take part in the national day of prayer opposing abortion.

Just over a dozen individuals gathered with Washington County Right to Life and stood with signs along West Madison Street as part of a larger nationwide network of Life Chain events.

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Among them was longtime participant and former Washington County Right to Life president Nancy Skubal, who has taken part in the event for more than two decades.

“It’s really important to me that people see the value in life,” Skubal said. “Life is something that God gives and it’s a blessing in any way that it comes. And so we need to support that.”

Since 1987, Life Chain participants have organized prayerful, peaceful public stands to express support for the sanctity of life on the first Sunday of October, according to the Life Chain website. Organizers say the event aims not to provoke confrontation, but to offer a public witness of individuals praying for the nation and for an end to abortion.

Participants held preprinted Life Chain signs with messages such as “Pray to End Abortion,” “Adoption: The Loving Option,” and “Abortion hurts women,” which organizers say reflect the event’s peaceful and prayerful focus. Skubal emphasized that Life Chain deliberately avoids inflammatory messaging because that goes against the intention of the event.

“We don’t allow personally made signs. These are all preprinted so that we’re not trying to be inflammatory or just offensive,” she said. “We just are trying to make the point that life does have value and that there’s hope.”

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Skubal said in addition to praying for the nation, families, women, and children during Life Chain events, many local pro-life advocates come prepared to connect expectant mothers with community resources that offer practical help.

“There’s support, you know, offering adoption … even past the birth, they will help in many different ways,” she said.

Among those resources, Cradle of Hope in Mt. Pleasant provides free and confidential services to individuals facing pregnancy, including confirmation of pregnancy, ultrasounds, prenatal vitamins, parenting and fatherhood classes, material assistance, adoption referrals, and postabortion care, according to its website.

She also mentioned Informed Choices in Iowa City, which offers pregnancy testing, limited obstetric ultrasounds, early prenatal care, STD testing and diagnosis, options counseling, and postabortion support, according to the organization’s website.

While they stand ready to give an answer, Skubal said the goal is not mass mobilization but personal reflection. She counts every year a success if even just one individual driving by stops to think.

“We’re praying just for individual change of heart,” she said.

With more than 20 years of experience standing and praying with Life Chain events, Skubal says she has seen a mixed public response.

“This year we had one person … make negative comments,” she said. “But the rest of the time, either people were silent or they were beeping their horns like they were in favor.”

Skubal shared that one of her most personal moments came while attending a Life Chain event shortly after suffering a miscarriage.

“Even though my child wasn’t born alive into this world, I still knew that life was important,” she said. “It’s just really important to pray for the mothers too.”

At the national level, Life Chain organizers report that more than 28,000 such events have taken place across the U.S. and Canada. The gatherings typically last about an hour, though local groups may extend the time to 90 minutes or more. Life Chain provides participants with approved, non-graphic signs and asks that idle chatter or verbal responses to motorists be minimized so participants can focus on prayer.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Kruse@southeastiowaunion.com