By James Tibbets, Pendletonian Times
PENDLETON, Ore. – An unknown organizer instructed anti-abortion advocates to assemble in the parking lot of Pendleton Church of God in Pendleton on Sunday, October 6 at 1:30pm. The event was a Life Chain; an annual, nationwide hour of prayer that has been held every year since 1987.
Life Chain is an anti-abortion organization that was started in 1987 by Please Let Me Live, of Yuba, California. Please Let Me Live was added to the Internal Revenue Service’s auto-revocation list in 2010 for not filing a Form 990-series notice for three consecutive years.
According to policy documents on lifechain.net, local police departments must be informed of the time and place of Life Chains. Pendletonian Times counted at least three Pendleton Police officers who drove by the October 6 Life Chain on Highway 395. Organizers are also told to “insist on a true ‘prayer chain,’ free of frivolity, idle chatter, and interaction with motorists.” The documents also request that leaders “avoid all political activity! Only God can end abortion and meet our nation’s vital needs.”
According to a prepared statement by Mike Townsend, Grand Knight of the Pendleton chapter of the Knights of Columbus which was provided to Pendletonian Times, “what is Life Chain? It is an opportunity to show the community that we are pro-life and stand firmly against the grave evil of abortion.” The Knights of Columbus are a Catholic fraternal organization that was founded in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney.
Pastor Luke Britt, of Pendleton Church of God would neither confirm nor deny that he was responsible for the Life Chain: “we’re part of something that has been around for a long time” said Britt to Pendletonian Times before the event began. While the event wasn’t listed on Life Chain’s national website, 13 people were in attendance at 1:58pm when Britt led the group in a short prayer.
Participants stood on either side of Highway 395 and many community members supported the Life Chain; cars honked their horns in support of the anti-abortion protest with some honking for each participant that they passed. Pendletonian Times counted two people who gave the finger to the Life Chain, though and one person who gave the thumbs down. One passerby even yelled at Townsend, “what about the children on the border?” Townsend told Pendletonian Times that though he didn’t respond, “there’s no choice [between them].”
According to Pew Research published in 2024, 63% of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases while 36% believe that it should be illegal. Pew states that according to the Centers for Disease Control, 625,978 abortions were performed in 46 states and the District of Columbia in 2020, which is the last year that CDC provided data.