MADISON – On Saturday, Sept. 14, groups of pro-life Americans participated in a National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children to honor the gravesites of the unborn who were victims of abortion.
Nationwide memorial services
The Day of Remembrance was conducted at 39 different gravesites across the nation, and was held on September 14 to mark the 25th anniversary of the burial of several hundred children in Milwaukee.
Origin of the day
In 1988, approximately 1,200 children killed by abortion were buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, one of the first such acts in the nation’s history.
The bodies of the children had been set out for trash pick-up on the loading dock of the Vital Med pathology lab in Northbrook, Ill., and came from two now-closed Milwaukee clinics: Summit Women’s Health Organization and Metropolitan Medical Services.
‘We must end the injustice’
Monica Migliorno Miller, director of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, said, “All of these unborn children met a terrible, violent death through legalized abortion.
“Their bodies were literally thrown away in the trash . . . only a small fraction of these victims were humanely buried, [and we were only able to do so] because pro-lifers rescued them from the trash.
“These graves puncture the American landscape and are a tragic and visible reminder that we must end the injustice of abortion.”
Services in Wisconsin
In Wisconsin, graveside memorial services were held in Milwaukee and Dane, and many additional memorial services were celebrated at non-graveside monuments erected to honor the unborn.
The service in Milwaukee was attended by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, a Milwaukee native and retired bishop of Lincoln, Neb.; Bishop Donald Hying, auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee; Lutheran pastor Rev. Mark Knappe; Pro-Life Wisconsin state Director Peggy Hamill; Fr. William Kurz, SJ, of Marquette University; Laura Brown of the Silent No More campaign; and many others.
40 Days for Life campaign
In the Diocese of Madison, the National Day of Remembrance was held at a the outdoor Fatima shrine near the cemetery of St. Michael Church in Dane, part of Blessed Trinity Parish, and was organized by the 40 Days for Life campaign.
For more information on 40 Days for life, visit www.40daysforlife.com/madison.html