Cemetery of the Innocents project gathers volunteers to remember lives lost to abortion

Volunteers completed the “Cemetery of the Innocents” project, an annual installment of more than 3,000 wooden crosses, on a rainy morning Oct. 30 in an Elizabethtown yard. The project was originally organized by the Respect Life Committee of St. James Church in Elizabethtown, Ky., in 2002. It has evolved to include many organizations in the community. (Photo special to the Record)

The St. James Church in Elizabethtown, Ky. The Respect Life Committee organized the “Cemetery of the Innocents” for the first time in 2002 at the corner of Ring and Pear Orchard roads in Hardin County, Ky.

In the past 19 years, the annual project has evolved. It’s now led by the Right to Life Kentucky Heartland Association (TRLKHA) and involves volunteers from many organizations in the community.

This year, on Oct. 30, the project gathered 40 volunteers — despite overcast and rainy conditions — to install 3,059 crosses as a way to “advocate for an end to abortion and the restoration of the dignity of human life, marriage and the family,” said Charles Doyle, the St. James Respect Life committee chairman, in an email. Volunteers participate because of their respect for the sanctity of life, according to Doyle.

The crosses will be removed by volunteers on Dec. 4.