Good Friday ‘Miracle’ Recalled at 40 Days Talk

On Good Friday 2011, Dan Miller, the state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, was leading the Pro-Life Stations of the Cross prayer service, as he does every year. The service always ends with a procession to the abortion facility on Farwell Avenue in Milwaukee. As they were finishing the prayers in front of the facility, a young man asked Miller if they could pray the Chaplet of the Holy Face.

Miller told this story during a talk Aug. 30 at St. Therese of Lisieux Parish in Kenosha, promoting the 40 Days for Life fall campaign, which runs through Nov. 6.

“We usually pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, but this year, there is this kid whom we never have encountered before asking to pray this prayer. I never heard of it and neither had the others who were there with me. I asked him how long it would take because I wanted to make sure everyone got back to church in time for Good Friday services,” Miller said. “I agreed, and as we prayed, we began noticing several policemen directing traffic because the traffic lights were out.”

As the group looked around, they noticed all the businesses had no power, including the abortion center. Customers and employees left in droves from the various businesses, with many running to their cars looking for flashlights.

“The next thing you know, groups of women were coming out of the abortion center, so we took that opportunity to counsel the women and let them know there is a free pregnancy help center across the street,” Miller said. “I also told them that I just wanted them to know that today is the day that Jesus Christ died for their sins, and perhaps we can help introduce their child to the joy of Easter Sunday and never come back here.”

Miller doesn’t know how many babies were saved that day, but he and the other pro-lifers ministered to the women. After most had left, he and his friend, Joe Florence, a Milwaukee firefighter who was battling stage four brain cancer, noticed the lights at the Women’s Care Center were still burning brightly, while the rest of the block had no power.

“We had called the electric company about the power outage, and they were apologetic but insisted that the Women’s Care Center would not have had power that day because they were on the same grid as the rest of the block,” Miller said. “However, the Women’s Care Center never lost power for even a minute that day. I still get chills telling that story.”

Now that Roe v. Wade has fallen and all these abortion centers remain idle, they are still just as dangerous, Miller said.

“I have said it time and time again: whether it is a Planned Parenthood feeder facility or what they call a pill mill, where they dispense contraception, if you go there for a pregnancy test and it was positive, they will refer you to an abortion center,” he said. “It doesn’t matter whether it is Madison, Milwaukee, Rockford or Chicago, they have a big network.”

Miller explained that while Wisconsin still has an 1849 law protecting the lives of the unborn, he is concerned the law will change, and the lives of the unborn will not be protected. He estimates this law is saving 17 babies a day in Wisconsin.

“We want to amend the state constitution so it does not exclude the pre-born,” Miller said. “We want equal care for mother and child, and get rid of any exceptions for the life of the mother, which are unnecessary in today’s world. Today, you can have open-heart surgery while pregnant and the baby will be safe. We don’t need to kill our sons and daughters to protect our lives.”

Miller explained that, as Catholics, there is something called the principle of double effect. If someone gets cancer, they have a right and duty to protect their life against that cancer. The family is dependent on that individual.

“But what happens if, in the course of treating cancer, the baby dies? The intention was never to kill the baby. That is not an abortion. It never has been an abortion, not in the Catholic Church’s eyes, not in the medical field’s eyes, not in anybody’s eyes,” Miller said. “Even if she had an ectopic pregnancy, the solution for this is to remove the fallopian tube and put it aside. If the baby is past the point of viability, they will do what they can to make sure the baby lives but that is not an abortion. The intention was to never kill that baby. The intention was for the mother to stop bleeding and save hers and the baby’s lives.”