Pro-life demonstrators have begun a 40-day vigil at the site of a proposed Planned Parenthood building on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Northeast Portland.

Saying they want a “peaceful and prayerful” presence, organizers of 40 Days for Life have invited volunteers to bring crucifixes and images of Mary, but have nixed graphic images of aborted babies.

Demonstrators will stand near the corner of Northeast MLK and Beech from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 24-Nov. 2.

Organizer of the event is a 19-year-old member of Holy Rosary Parish in Portland, already a veteran in the pro-life movement.

Christina DeGoede located volunteers to cover the 40 days. There were about 50 signed on as of late last week, with more expected.

DeGoede, who lives in Mossyrock, Wash., was homeschooled and has taken part in pro-life advocacy with her family for more than seven years. She is simultaneously organizing the 40 Days for Life vigil in Centralia, Wash.

Withstanding the vitriol of opponents and cheered by the beeps of supporters, many of the protesters in Portland and Centralia will be in their teens and 20s.

“If somebody yells and they don’t want to talk, if they just want to insult me and then leave, I just ignore them and say a prayer for them,” DeGoede says.

By contrast, if they want to engage in some reasonable debate, she’s ready for that.
“I explain to them what we are doing and why we are doing it,” she explains. “I stay calm.”

“There are quite a few young people interested,” DeGoede says of the pro-life movement. “It’s definitely growing really fast among them.”

She made a visit to the University of Portland, where a student pro-life group is interested in joining the vigil.

A group from St. John Fisher Parish in Portland plans to cover Tuesdays. Other parishes involved include Holy Rosary, Holy Redeemer and The Madeleine.

The 40-day vigil will begin with a Mass set for 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at Holy Redeemer.

From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 5 — early on in the 40 days — MLK and Beech will be the center of Oregon’s annual Life Chain protest.

That’s a day when people nationwide come out to stand up for unborn life. Last year, about 400 people attended the Life Chain event on MLK.

“Folks, let us really work hard for these 40 days and let everyone know that we do not want Planned Parenthood on MLK,” said an email to backers from Bill Diss, one of the leaders of Precious Children of Portland, the group that has led the campaign to thwart Planned Parenthood’s strategy.

Portland’s urban renewal office has sought to bring developers a tenant for the site and so paved the way for Planned Parenthood after a long search yielded no one else. The city pushed forward despite protest from leaders at a nearby Catholic parish, Protestant churches and Muslim house of prayer.

Beech Street Partners, the developer that aims to buy the publicly-owned land and give it over to Planned Parenthood, has purchased other parcels around the site.