Prayer Is First Line Against Abortion, Mahony Says : Rally: Cardinal’s speech launches weeklong series of demonstrations planned at clinics throughout the state.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, speaking Saturday at a rally kicking off a weeklong series of anti-abortion demonstrations, asked activists to use prayer and study of the Bible to curtail abortions.

“I think prayer must be our first line of attack against abortion,” Mahony told a crowd of about 250 at St. Pancratius Catholic Church in Lakewood. “Religious background makes a tremendous difference on whether a woman has an abortion,” he said.

Similar rallies were held Saturday in San Diego, Bakersfield, Sacramento and in the San Francisco Bay Area. And anti-abortion activists are planning demonstrations and prayer vigils outside 100 abortion clinics throughout the state this week.

Mahony, head of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, urged anti-abortion activists to spend more time praying, studying the Bible and getting children involved in church activities. “I think this is the place to be for us who want to protect the lives of so many unborn children,” he said of the church.

He urged activists to forgive and comfort women who have gone through abortions and teach them about God’s word. “You and I must be agents for that healing,” he said.

The series of demonstrations is being organized by the California Coalition for Life, which includes Operation Rescue and other anti-abortion groups. The coalition plans to conclude the demonstrations next Saturday with rallies at city halls in Los Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield and Sunnyvale and on the Capitol steps in Sacramento.

In the past, Mahony has supported the goals of anti-abortion protesters but has declined to participate in demonstrations in front of abortion clinics.

About 90 abortion-rights activists from Choice or Death held a “mock trial” for Mahony across the street from the church. Protesters did not disrupt Mahony’s speech but held placards reading: “Teach Safe Sex, Birth Control, Family Planning.”