As hundreds of cyclists poured through the Summit City, there was hope that the event would not only bring some exercise and entertainment to the participants but hopefully a changed view of the community in general.Rochelle Bloomfield stood behind a microphone Sunday and shared a story that made her voice tremble.
She was a pregnant, unwed teenager when an adult encouraged her to have an abortion in 1982, she said.
She took the advice, she said, only to spend the next 20 years hearing "someone call mommy and the calls of unborn babies."
Bloomfield, a member of the anti-abortion group "Silent No More," shared her testimony as a part of the 19th annual Allen County Right to Life memorial service in Catholic Cemetery. The event, which drew more than 100 people, was meant to honor the lives of the estimated 288 fetuses "killed at the hands of abortionists" locally in the last year.
"So often we think 'it's okay to do this because it's legal, but it's not," Bloomfield said of abortion. "My hope is that the more we have the chance to shed light on this and share our stories, more babies will be saved and more hearts will be healed."
During the ceremony, Catholic and Baptist religious leaders prayed for those aborted and asked that their parents be forgiven.
Between prayers, activists read names, such as "Benjamin John," they had given to Fort Wayne's aborted fetuses and announced the number of other "killed babies" that day. White balloons, representing lost lives, were released into the air as they spoke. Activists also placed 288 flags in the lawn to honor the dead.
Near the end of the service, members of the audience approached the microphone, read a child's name from a piece of paper they had been given, and laid a rose near a child-size casket placed near the cemetery's memorial for unborn babies.
Mary Carroll, 10, carried a rose for "Jeremy Daniel," who organizers say was aborted Oct. 28, 2010.
"I was really nervous," she said of the experience. "This was my chance to tell people to remember all of the babies who have died. Some people don't even give them a chance."
The ceremony came during 40 Days for Life, a global anti-abortion campaign involving prayer, fasting, vigils at abortion clinics and community outreach. According to the campaign's website, Fort Wayne is one of 301 locations throughout the world participating in the campaign, which started Wednesday and runs though Nov. 5.
"We want to make certain that these children are not forgotten," said Allen County Right to Life Executive Director Cathie Humbarger. "There are a number of women here today who have had abortions and they are grieving and trying to find closure."
Humbarger said 288 was an estimate of the number of fetuses aborted last year. She said her group calculated the number based on women who had been seen walking in and out of Allen County's abortion clinic.
Reached through email Sunday, Planned Parenthood's Chrystal Struben gave her reaction to the memorial service.
"Planned Parenthood of Indiana believes that everyone should have choices and the ability to express their opinions," she said. Planned Parenthood of Indiana "is a life-saving organization. We provide preventive health care and education that help detect cancers and prevent and treat sexually transmitted diseases."
Although the Fort Wayne Planned Parenthood clinic provides abortion referral services and counseling, it does not offer abortions.
