Walk For Life West Coast 2008

Click any of the photos in this post to see a larger size and go to the full set on Flickr.

As I said in another post, Brad and I attended the Walk For Life West Coast on Saturday in San Francisco.

I was glad when the walk finally started. We stood for an hour listening to the speakers, and we had gotten there early. It was cold and my legs were very stiff. It was a large crowd. The Catholic News Agency says there were about 25,000 walkers and 250 protesters. Last year there were 20,000 walkers. The route was 2.5 miles and wound it's way down the Embarcadero past the piers including the famous Pier 39, eventually ending at Marina Green.

The local ABC station simply said there were "thousands and thousands," and KTVU had a video where they stated there were "over 20,000." The San Francisco Chronicle said "thousands," and labels us as abortion protesters. They won't call us "pro-life."

At any rate, it was a pretty big crowd.

The thing that struck me the most was how angry the protesters were. It was almost as if their lives were so bad that they wish they had been aborted. They also tried to be as offensive as possible. Why is that? I saw none of that on the pro-life side. The walk was peaceful (on our side at least) and the signs weren't meant to be offensive. The dichotomy between the two groups really struck me. I know I am on the right side.

If you are pro-choice you believe that killing a child in utero is okay. Why does it suddenly become wrong when that child moves outside the womb? What is the difference?

I used to be pro-choice and have gone to pro-choice rallies. I even wrote an article for Circle Network News (a Pagan publication) about abortion, which was published. In it I stated that I had no issue at all with first trimester abortions; I only drew the line at third trimester abortions when the fetus was a viable baby, able to live outside the womb.

God has changed all that for me. He showed me that life begins at conception and to stop that life is to play God. I don't believe we have that right, whether it's a child in the womb or a convicted murderer in prison. That is why I am against both abortion and the death penalty.

Abortion harms women. I know one woman who has had an abortion and she does regret it. And did you know that 1/3 of the current generation has been killed through abortion? I was born during a time when abortion was illegal, as were my sister and my brother. I had just turned two years old when the historical Roe v. Wade decision was made - a decision that has wiped out over 51,500,000 children. The news said that abortion "is at it's lowest rate in 30 years," but that "one in five pregnancies end in abortion." That's one in five too many in my opinion.

It's a little known fact, but my brother could have been one of those statistics if abortion had been available. He was unwanted and unplanned. After his birth he was put up for adoption. I am sure that he is happy to be alive, and I'm sure his wife feels the same way. They cannot have children so they adopted - adopted another unwanted and unplanned child born to a drug addicted prostitute. I am sure they are glad that prostitute did not abort.

The photos I took of the walk can be found here:
Walk For Life 2008

Other photo sets: Matt Hendricks - Steve Rhodes

I put up three videos on YouTube:
me at the Walk For Life
listening to the speakers
photo slideshow (Flickr photos in video slideshow form)

More YouTube videos

Please support life, not death.

Technorati tagged: Walk For Life, San Francisco, abortion, pro-life, pro-choice, pro life, pro choice, faith, God, religion