Local pro-lifers gather at Courthouse to pray

By Lance Griffin

Published: July 4, 2008

Motorists at the corner of Oates and Main streets craned their necks at the group of about 50 gathered at the entrance of the Houston County Courthouse.
Some honked their horns. A few apparently dialed police on their cell phones to ask about what was going on at the courthouse Friday morning.

The group of gatherers, dressed mostly in T-Shirts and shorts, sang Christian songs and prayed. At the top of each hour Friday morning, they spread around the courthouse and covered their mouths with red tape with the word “LIFE” written in black across it.

It was a silent prayer for the unborn, said Jarrod Yates, spokesperson for a group known as Bound 4Life -Wiregrass.

Yates said the group came together to draw attention to the pro-life movement. Covering their mouths in silent prayer is a reminder for the group, Yates said.

“It helps us identify with the voice of the unborn,” Yates said. “Because they have no voice unless we raise ours.”

The local Bound 4 Life group is a chapter of Bound 4 Life International. The movement began several years ago and holds prayer vigils at courthouses, abortion clinics and other places around the country. Members have held prayer on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court Building and a national event is scheduled in August on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Yates said the events should not be viewed as protests, but simply as prayer meetings.

“We’re not here to chant, not here to picket. We’re not here to create a spectacle,” Yates said. “And we’re not here to condemn anyone.”

The prayer meeting lasted from 8 a.m. until noon. The Dothan Police Department did receive a handful of calls inquiring about the gathering. The group did obtain a permit from the city to gather at the courthouse.