Staff report

By Day 6, leaders in the 40 Days for Life vigil at an Oakland family planning clinic reported: A woman changed her mind about an abortion.

"She didn't have health insurance," said Yassin Jacob, coordinator of the first-time 40 Days for Life effort in Oakland.

	For more information 40daysforlife.org/oakland

After the people at the vigil gave her information on prenatal care she could get at no cost, she entered the building, received a refund, and was picked up by a relative or friend.

"I was so joyful," Jacob said.

From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, including weekends, the vigil covers all the time the clinic sees patients. Oakland is one of 319 sites across the country where 40 Days for Life is keeping vigil through Nov. 4.

Because Oakland has a "bubble law," it's important for potential vigil participants to be aware of the law, Jacob said. Potential participants are welcome to contact him through 40daysforlife.org/oakland.

Jacob said the attorney who handled the successful appeal of pro-life activist Rev. Walter Hoye's conviction for violating that law has provided information that will keep the vigil keepers within the law.

Fifty-one volunteers had signed up for the vigil, including parishioners from St. Margaret Mary and St. Jarlath parishes in Oakland; St. Jerome in El Cerrito; and St. Joseph of Alameda, Jacob said.

Among the priests who have lent their support, Jacob said, was the Rev. John Direen, pastor of St. Joseph the Worker in Berkeley, who had been present daily from the first week.

Father Direen said the vigil is an example of the importance of presence, in addition to prayer. Support of efforts such as the Gabriel Project, he said, which assist women in crisis pregnancies, is essential to the effort to save the unborn.

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