BY KATHI STEARNS

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--Father Michael Campbell says his prayers and those of many pro-lifers throughout the state have been answered with the closing of Midtown Hospital, Georgia’s largest abortion provider.

The facility was shut down in May after state inspectors determined that women patients were being treated in unsanitary, overcrowded, poorly staffed and dangerous conditions.

In 1996 Father Campbell, a parochial vicar at St. John Neumann Church, Lilburn, asked Archbishop John F. Donoghue’s permission to demonstrate in front of Midtown, which had been identified as the largest abortion mill in the state, performing over 7,000 abortions that year.

However instead of simply demonstrating, Father Campbell chose to lead a prayer vigil in which participants prayed for the mothers who were having abortions, the souls of the children whose lives were being aborted, the abortionist and the staff who were responsible for the termination of human life and the eventual closing of Midtown Hospital.

“It was something I felt called to do and I believed from the beginning that the prayers of our group would contribute to the closing of the facility,” he said.

Father Campbell formed an archdiocesan chapter of “Helpers of God’s Precious Infants,” an organization established by Msgr. Philip Reilly of the Brooklyn Diocese in October 1989. The mission of that organization is “to establish at every site where the unborn are unjustly killed a presence of pure prayer.”

The vigil envisioned by Msgr. Reilly begins with the celebration of Mass at a nearby church, followed by the recitation of 15 decades of the rosary at the abortion clinic and the singing of hymns between each decade. Those unable to attend the vigil add their prayers by praying simultaneously as the group keeps their vigil at the abortion clinic.

Two members of the prayer team act as sidewalk counselors and provide those considering an abortion with literature which lists medical, adoption and financial resources.

Beginning Nov. 1, 1997 Father Campbell held prayer vigils on the first Saturday of each month at Midtown Hospital, which performed abortions for women seven to 26 weeks pregnant. The vigil began at 7 a.m. and included prayers, hymns and the recitation of the 15 decade rosary.

He was joined in his efforts by members of the pro-life ministries of St. John Neumann, St. Joseph, Marietta, St. Oliver Plunkett, Snellville, St. Benedict, Duluth, St. Ann, Marietta, St. John Vianney, Lithia Springs, the Latin Mass Community, the Missionaries of Charity and their patients and many other non-Catholics who also believe in the sanctity of life.

“What we were doing was praying for conversion,” Father Campbell said. “We prayed that through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, peoples’ hearts would be changed. We prayed that the mothers who were scheduled to have abortions would reconsider their decision. We prayed that the doctors and nurses who were performing these procedures would stop and we prayed for those who were pro-choice to some day understand that all life is sacred.”

Father Campbell said that it was also important that members of the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants show those who were undergoing abortions that their God is a God of compassion and mercy.

“While I believe that abortion is murder and one of the most brutal crimes to commit against someone who is defenseless, it is imperative that we be compassionate to those who are arriving at the clinic and terminating the life of their baby,” he said. “You must hate the sin but love the sinner.”

Father Campbell and the members of Helpers of God’s Precious Infants only had to maintain their vigil for seven months when Fulton County Superior Court Senior Judge William Alexander ordered the hospital closed.

“I was surprised it was closed so quickly,” Father Campbell said. “I thought when I started this effort that I would be on the sidewalk of Midtown for at least three to five years and I was ready to go the distance. The Lord had other plans.”

Father Campbell says that reading the state report which documents the conditions at the hospital was one of the most eye-opening experiences in his life.

“I knew that abortions were being done at Midtown,” he said. “But I never knew the lack of care and concern patients were receiving there. The treatment some of those women received was absolutely unbelievable.”

Detailed affidavits filed by state inspectors after visiting Midtown Hospital on many occasions in 1997 and 1998 cite them for deficiencies including that sterile instrument trays had areas that were rust colored and instruments were corroded; vinyl chairs had drainage from other patients and were not cleaned between patients; floors were coated with dirt and build-up; patient masks on the anesthesia machine had not been disinfected; members of the staff were pouring bloody secretions down the decontamination sink where instruments were being washed, and the physician and surgical technician did not wash or scrub their hands before or between cases.

A former employee of Midtown stated in her affidavit that she “routinely saw patients expel fetuses on the floor and in the commode in the preoperative room. Patients expelled fetuses in front of other patients that were awaiting procedures. Patients expelled fetuses in commodes that were used by other patients.”

“When I read the report, I cried like a baby,” said Peggy Sinanian, archdiocesan director of the Pro-Life Office who supported Father Campbell’s efforts at Midtown Hospital. “What was going on there was so barbaric it was difficult to comprehend. To say they do abortions to protect the rights of the women in light of the testimony is implausible.”

For Father Campbell this is a major victory, but he knows that there are other battles to be fought. He plans to find another abortion clinic and begin his prayer vigil at another one of these sites as soon as he can get the archbishop’s blessing.

“We still have a long way to go,” he said. “But instead of dialoging and demonstrating I truly believe that it is through prayer that we will see more of these abortion mills closed. Prayer is the answer. It will get us where we need to be.”