Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has proclaimed January 22nd a statewide day of prayer to end abortion. The Republican governor chose that date because it the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion in all 50 states.
The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) doesn’t like the public prayer proclamation. FFRF co-presidents Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor actually claim it’s un-biblical, but speaking on the “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” radio program, Governor Ricketts said Nebraska is pro-life.
“You see it all over from the people who attend prayer vigils, to the people who work and volunteer at pregnancy agencies, to the work that our families do to help support one another,” said Governor Ricketts. “We believe that what has happened with Roe v. Wade is one of the darkest periods of our nation’s history, with over 60 million of our children being killed and so we wanted to ask for prayer to end abortion.”
Ricketts thinks it recognizes the limits of our humanity.
“It recognizes that we’re talking about changing hearts and minds,” the governor continued. “We need God’s help to be able to do that, and so we wanted to bring people together in that cause of praying for the end of abortion to be able to continue to work toward making this a country that respects life again.”
In his proclamation calling for prayer, which does not say who people should pray to and how they should pray, Governor Ricketts says “it seems right and fitting that the citizens of the State of Nebraska are urged to pray for an end to abortion and for our fellow citizens who need our love and support.”