On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion throughout the United States in its companion decisions of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. Since that time, millions of children have lost their lives, and millions of women and families have been wounded by abortion.
On June 24, 2022, the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade, and we praise God for the great opportunity state and federal legislators now have to protect preborn children.
While God, in His mercy, ended the nearly fifty-year nationwide regime of abortion on demand, current state and federal laws, in many instances, are still hostile to preborn children. So, great prayer and advocacy is very much needed.
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), no. 373, designates January 22 as a particular day of prayer and penance, called the "Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children.”
Therefore, in all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 is observed as a particular day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.
The liturgical celebrations for this day will be the “Mass for Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life.” On this special day of January 22, let us unite our hearts and minds through special acts of prayer, fasting, and sacrifice and recommit to upholding the inherent dignity of all human life from conception to natural death.