.- The sixth Annual Walk for Life West Coast will bring together more than 35,000 pro-life activists on Jan. 23 to advocate an end to “the violence of abortion.” Attendees will hear pro-life speakers describe how abortion hurts women and how all people have a right to life.
The Walk for Life event begins with a rally at 11 a.m. at Justin Herman Plaza. The walk itself starts at noon and proceeds for two miles along San Francisco’s waterfront. It ends in sight of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Attendees come from colleges, high schools and church congregations that range from being local to as far away as Colorado and Texas.
This year marks the joining of San Francisco and Paris as pro-life “sister cities” as Paul Ginoux-Defermont, an organizer of the Marche Pour Le Respect de la Vie will attend.
The Walk was begun in 2005 by a group of San Franciscans seeking to change hearts hurt by “the violence of abortion,” a press release from organizers says. They say the event is non-sectarian and non-denominational and “openly expresses belief in God but welcomes all who share a respect for life.”
It is held on the Saturday closest to the Jan. 22 anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling which mandated permissive abortion laws across the United States.
Several of the Walk for Life’s speakers will draw on personal experience to focus on the exploitation of women driven by what organizers call the “profiteering” of the abortion industry.
Speakers at the 2010 event include undercover student investigator Lila Rose, former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson, Silent No More leaders Irene Beltran and Georgette Foley, and 40 Days for Life director David Bereit.
Bereit will receive the Walk’s St. Gianna Molla Award in recognition of his work.
Frank Lee, coordinator of Asian Americans Against Abortion, will give the invocation.
The Walk for Life website is at http://www.walkforlifewc.com/.
