It's day 26 of the 40 Days for Life Campaign:
It is not unusual for people standing vigil outside an abortion facility during 40 Days for Life to be the target of "drive-by anger." You may think the people who offer you an unkind word or gesture simply don't care for you or what you're doing.More hereBut often, there's much more to it.
"We have had the expected negative response from passersby," said Kelly in Severna Park, Maryland, "but I just like to call this response 'ripping off the band aid.' People are angry because they are trying not to think about the pain they are in. By us being there, we are ripping their band aids off and so they project their anger at us."
Who's doing this? People who had unresolved abortion experiences -- sometimes decades ago -- that may have left them with feelings of guilt and anger. So they lash out.
"I know that this may in fact be their first steps to healing and so I don't mind," Kelly said. "I've noticed that when I hold my sign with the personal statement, 'I regret my abortion,' people get really upset. So upset they feel the need to call me mean names and yell to me that they don't regret their abortions, but their anger tells me otherwise."
Through 40 Days for Life, however, many of these people are taking that first step towards healing.
