Walk for Life affirms dignity of life
Thousands of people gathered in San Francisco Jan. 23 for the 6th annual Walk for Life West Coast, a pro-life rally and walk that took place this year beneath grey clouds and intermittent rain.
The cold and damp weather didn’t seem to hamper attendance or enthusiasm. Organizers of the pro-life event estimated there were more than 35,000 people present. The long line of people in the walk included teenagers and young people, parents with strollers, college students, seminarians, and Catholic parishioners from the San Francisco Bay Area, northern California and beyond, as well members of evangelical and other Christian denominations.
At an early morning, pre-walk Mass Jan. 23, at an overflowing St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, Archbishop George H. Niederauer said in his homily, “we seek to witness in our time and place to the unique and priceless value of each human life, at every stage of life. In the pro-life cause we have recognizable opponents: Abortionists, those who promote assisted suicide, Pro-Choice organizations, Planned Parenthood. It is also true, however, that we have disagreement, misunderstanding and opposition from among our own spiritual relatives, the family of believers within the Catholic Church, what we may call ‘the household of the faith.’ Of particular concern are Catholics in public life who take pro-choice positions and vote for pro-choice legislation.”
At the Walk for Life rally held later the same morning at a plaza on the San Francisco Embarcadero, walk participants gathered and heard from pro-life activists.
Frank Lee, coordinator of Asian Americans Pro-Life, led the rally in a prayer, saying: “Every life is precious and should be cherished. We have a tough battle in front of us, but we shall overcome when we combine our efforts to make it a perfect whole!”
Students from San Francisco high schools and from Stanford, UC-Berkeley, St. Mary’s of Moraga, St. Thomas Aquinas College, and Wyoming Catholic College marched alongside eight Catholic bishops.
One hundred and twenty Catholic seminarians carried banners and Tom Martin, who worked for former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown before entering the seminary, said: “It’s a great opportunity for the people of God to see that the seminarians are joining with them not only in praying for life, but also taking a stand.”
Speakers included Abby Johnson, who worked for Planned Parenthood for eight years before walking away from her job as a clinic director in October after assisting in an abortion. Johnson said: “If you are here, you are an activist. We can no longer just say the words but must put our words into action.” Johnson joined 40 Days for Life, a national prayer and fasting campaign outside abortion clinics. The Walk presented the St. Gianna Molla Award to David Bereit, national campaign director of 40 Days for Life.
Lila Rose of Live Action said “The fact that we have allowed abortion in this great nation, the killing of the most defenseless and weak among us has resulted in the greatest human rights abuse I believe our nation has ever seen. It is up to us to stand, raise our voices, and protect the smallest.”
“If ever there was a time to ‘seize the moment’ in the interest of unborn babies, it is now,” Evangelical preacher, author and theologian, Pastor Jim Garlow of San Diego, told the rally.
The Reverend Clenard Childress, founder of BlackGenocide.org, said “There is an obvious shifting in our culture and it stems from advances in the pro-life movement.”
Walk for Life co-founder Dolores Meehan said “The tenacity of pro-lifers, showing up in their tens of thousands, despite a downpour, is a testimony to their commitment!”
Following the rally, participants walked two miles from the Embarcadero to the Marina Green behind a large banner, which said “Abortion hurts women.”
Walk for Life West Coast was started by a group of San Franciscans in 2005 to affirm the right to life from conception to natural death and particularly to change hearts hurt by the violence of abortion.
See more images from the 2010 Walk for Life West Coast.
From January 29, 2010 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
