The Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco, Calif., Jan. 23, 2021. (Image: Walk for Life West Coast)
Denver Newsroom, Jan 27, 2021 / 03:25 pm (CNA).- Despite pandemic restrictions, thousands of pro-life advocates showed their support at the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco on Saturday.
Eva Muntean, co-chair of Walk for Life, said she expected only a few hundred to attend the march because of the pandemic but was pleasantly surprised to walk alongside about 2,500 pro-life demonstrators.
“That pro-lifers would show up, and in numbers beyond our hope, in the face not only of Covid but also of threats of political unrest, shows the unshakable commitment pro-lifers have to protecting the littlest and most defenseless among us,” she told CNA.
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and 12 priests began the event with the annual Walk for Life West Coast Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The church was filled to capacity under pandemic restrictions, and some worshipers prayed outside in the plaza.
The protesters gathered at Civic Center Plaza after Mass. While the San Francisco Police Department provided officers for safety, Muntean said, the Walk for Life was not intercepted by counter-protesters for the first time in 17 years.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the organization was unable to use buses to transport protesters nor was it able to obtain an event permit from the city. Without the permit, the group was not allowed to erect a stage or sound system.
During the event, Walk chaplain Father Joseph Fessio, who is also the founder of Ignatius Press, and Clenard Childress, senior pastor at New Calvary Baptist Church in New Jersey, addressed the crowd from the bed of a pick-up truck.
“You are the remnant…there has never been a more important Walk for Life West Coast!…This is a time of faith. That is why you are here right now. You did not come here because of circumstances. You are here because of justice” said Childress, according to Walk for Life.
Co-chair Dolores Meehan also spoke at the event. She discussed the walk’s annual theme “Abortion Hurts Women,” and expressed her gratitude for the safety provided by the local police force.
“You’re all standing in the breech for women who have been hurt by abortion, for all the kids who have died by abortion and for all those who need our help today,” she said.
“We are incredibly grateful to Our Lady and the San Francisco Police Department for giving us such a safe event.”
According to Walk For life, Meehan recognized the concerns about the coronavirus and political unrest, but she said the members of her team “discerned that continuing to stand as a peaceful, public witness to the harm that abortion has inflicted on our society, is as important today as it has ever been.” Participants were also encouraged to follow social distancing protocol and wear masks.
“We appreciate all of the pro-life warriors who supported us in prayer (from home) this year. Your contribution is essential and your pro-life commitment is unquestionable,” she added.
Muntean expressed the important impact Walk For Life has on the city and on the Christian community, especially under the current challenges. She said families have been isolated because of the pandemic and the pro-life community is now faced with a presidential administration that supports abortion rights.
She said, being able to gather again as a community, was revitalizing.
“Our presence on the streets of San Francisco, in the face of risk and in opposition to the most pro-abortion administration in American history shows: we will not compromise. We walked to bring unity and rejuvenation to the pro-life movement that so needs it under this new administration,” she told CNA.
“In 17 years I have never had so many people come up to me to say ‘thank you for doing this,’” she added.
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Washington D.C., Aug 3, 2022 / 19:00 pm (CNA).
The mother of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee said that the family is “at the end” of their efforts to keep their son on life support after the Europea… […]
A young woman holds a pro-life sign during a rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. / Joseph Portolano/CNA
Washington D.C., Jun 25, 2023 / 06:40 am (CNA).
Marking the first anniversary of Roe being overturned, a group of pro-life leaders rallied hundreds to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Saturday with the message that they were united around the fight for full, legal protection for the unborn from the moment of conception in all 50 states.
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, told those gathered on a sunny, hot summer day that while she celebrated the 25 states that have passed strong pro-life laws, “we are in fact living in a divided states of America” where “a person’s location determines if they will survive the abortion gauntlet as we did.”
Hawkins said the country must become “an America where every human being is recognized as the unrepeatable person as they are with equal rights and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed, not because of what state their mother resides in or if they are perceived to be convenient or the circumstances of their conception.”
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, addresses the crowd at a pro-life rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Hawkins told CNA that pro-life leaders are uniting around the belief “that every human being is a human person at conception” and that the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal justice clauses should be equally applied to persons in the womb.
“At a very minimum if you’re running for federal office, you should be able to acknowledge that abortion is a federal issue,” she said. “We want to see every presidential contender join with us to acknowledge what is so clearly written in the Fourteenth Amendment: that all human beings are human persons and deserve equal protection of our laws.”
Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, called the Fourteenth Amendment “one of the most beautiful notes in our national song” and lamented that “when it comes to preborn children we have failed to extend these protections.”
Speaking at a rally in front of of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, Lila Rose, president of the pro-life group Live Action, called it a “tragic contradiction” that “while our society celebrates advancements in prenatal care and technology, we simultaneously deny personhood and rights, the personhood and rights of these very same children.”. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Rose called it a “tragic contradiction” that “while our society celebrates advancements in prenatal care and technology, we simultaneously deny personhood and rights, the personhood and rights of these very same children. It is inconceivable that we would selectively deny these rights to one group of human beings solely based on their location: the womb.”
Republican presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence, who recently called on his fellow GOP presidential candidates to join him in backing a “minimum” nationwide 15-week abortion limit, made an appearance at the rally.
“As we celebrate this anniversary, let us here resolve that we will work and we will pray as never before to advance the cause of life in the laws of the land in every state in America. That we will support women in crisis pregnancies with resources and support for their care, for the unborn, and for the newborn as never before,” Pence said.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, addresses the crowd at a pro-life rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023, marking the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Joseph Portolano/CNA
“We stand for the babies and their unalienable right to life,” he said, pledging that he and his family “will never rest and never relent until we restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law in every state in the land.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-life America, shared words of advice for the growing list of 2024 presidential candidates: “Get your act together. Figure out what you’re for and advance it. Don’t wait,” she urged.
“We have consensus in this country,” she added. “Start with that and be the president you’re called to be in justice and love for moms and justice and love for their babies.” Consistent Gallup polling shows that the majority of Americans would prefer to limit abortion to the first three months of pregnancy.
There were many young people in the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial, including Katriel Nyman, a 17-year-old from Washington state who is with Students for Life Tri-Cities. She told CNA that it was “really encouraging to see a bunch of people who believe in rights from conception.”
She said she’d “like to see more pro-lifers continue to persevere through this” post-Dobbs fight because “even if abortion isn’t legal in your state, you should be fighting for the rights of infants that are soon to be born in other states.”
Sameerah Munshi, a recent graduate of Brown University who is interning with the Religious Freedom Institute, holds a sign with a verse from the Quran about the sanctity of life that reads “We have dignified the children of Adam,” at a pro-life rally at the Lincoln Memorial on June 24, 2023. Lauretta Brown/CNA
Sameerah Munshi, a recent graduate of Brown University who is interning with the Religious Freedom Institute, held a sign with a verse from the Quran about the sanctity of life that read “We have dignified the children of Adam.”
She told CNA that she wanted to make her voice heard as a Muslim who believes, based on her faith, that abortion is wrong in most cases. She said many Muslims followers feel, as she does, that life begins “in the first couple weeks after conception.”
Munshi said that in the year since the Dobbs decision, “a lot of people that I know who don’t have strong opinions on abortion have been coming out either in favor or against” abortion. She sees it as valuable that there’s more discourse about the abortion issue and people are “coming to more conclusions for themselves as opposed to maybe rhetoric that they’ve seen in the news or rhetoric that they feel has been a part of their political platform.”
Jessica Newell, a Catholic student who is interning with Live Action and entering her third year at Coastal Carolina University, told CNA that “it’s so important for people who are indoctrinated by this culture to learn the truth about biology and the truth about God and that they’re made in the image of God.”
She emphasized that the pro-life movement still has so much to do and part of that work is “letting people know that they’re loved, that is a big step in changing the culture to a culture of life.”
Melissa Ohden, who survived a saline-infusion abortion at 31 weeks gestation, stands alongside her oldest daughter Olivia, 15, at a pro-life rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023. Joseph Portolano/CNA
Melissa Ohden, who survived a saline-infusion abortion at 31 weeks gestation, stood at the rally alongside her oldest daughter Olivia, 15, and a sign which read “Babies survive abortions. I am one of them.”
“This was a very personal thing for Roe to be overturned,” she told CNA, “It is a day that we can celebrate, but it has not been a chance to pause, take our breath, it has been a time of continuing to hit the ground running.”
In her work heading the Abortion Survivors Network, Ohden said that since the Dobbs decision she’s heard from “more women than ever reaching out to us after their chemical abortions have failed.” She said it’s important to reach moms who are vulnerable to chemical abortions which make up the majority of abortions in the country.
Ohden said that since Dobbs the pro-life movement “has continued to be the side that is providing resources and support whether it’s in communities, at the state level, pushing for federal policy that supports mothers and children and families in a greater way.”
Her daughter Olivia said it was “amazing” to be at the rally with her mom and called the issue an emotional one because “people like my mom should be protected no matter who they are, where they are.”
Emergency room intensive care unit. / Credit: Shutterstock
CNA Staff, Jan 3, 2024 / 10:40 am (CNA).
A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected the Biden administration’s argument that emergency room doctors should be required to perform aborti… […]
11 Comments
Homelessness in the USA asks, who will take care of and how will the children of homeless families be raised?
The United States spends near two thirds of a Trillion on arms to murder, exterminate, Genocide Millions of Humans military budget, much of used to exterminate Yemen alone, defiant to the Catholic Religion in every regard, in by Genocide, Unjust war. Defiant to prolife.
Who will educate the children, when orphanges across the US are closed as a cost savings, defiant to Pro Life, Education.
Yet the US has 5% of the world population, and 25% of the World prisoners..
Will women be jailed, if they have an abortion, as a punishment by the governemnt if they are illegal again?
What will be the fine, consequence in illegal abortion again?
Yet our government contributes to the Genocide of Millions in Yemen?
What about the genocide of 1 million defenseless and helpless humans aborted each year in the US? And our new president wants to have taxpayers contribute to that genocide as well.
from human rights watch website: According to the Yemen Data Project, more than 17,500 civilians were killed and injured since 2015
Lyle,
The fines and consequences of feticides if made illegal again will probably resemble the previous fines and consequences. Those affected the physicians or others who assisted, not the mother.
I think there were a few exceptions but it’s generally the party who performs the feticide who has broken the law.
If a women gives birth, puts the child in a garbage bag, ties it closed, pitches the bag-with-baby in the dumpster, and the baby dies, the mother will be hauled up on murder charges.
.
If she had had an abortion a couple of days sooner, she has committed no wrong.
.
Honestly, that does not make much sense to me.
.
Imagine being so morally bankrupt that the hill upon which you stand and will attack other people at a rally is the right to kill your unborn baby. Let that sink in. As for Lyle, there is such a thing called ADOPTION. I know that personally, because I have two children who I adopted. There are many couples willing to adopt and so to pretend abortion is a woman’s only solution to pregnancy is a lie, flat out. The other option if you absolutely cannot find yourself pregnant is to abstain from sex to begin with. Believe it or not that is a legitimate realistic option and a lot of people are celibate with no problem. Not just nuns and priests but widows/widowers and younger people who chose this option for moral reasons. The media narrative that the alternative to legal abortion/infanticide is dead women in the street was not even true in the 50’s. That was an absolutely rare occurrence even then. Thinking twice before engaging in sex doesnt seem like a bad idea. Ask yourself if it is worse or harder than killing your child??
It’s worth noting that many married women have abortions, not just poor unwed teens, or rape/incest victims. They are usually middle to upper class women. It’s about convenience and materialism. It usually occurs when their contraception failed. And many Catholic women think birth control is just fine, and although they stop short of abortion, it still contributes to the overall decline of respecting life.
For more than 35 years I have put my money where my mouth is – by donating to 2 pregnancy clinics offering an alternative to abortion – last year they saved 134 children from abortion and their mothers a lifetime of regret and loss of the potential. They provide physical, financial, and emotional support to the woman and her family. They also counsel women who have had an abortion to heal them as well. It’s not much on my part – but it is everything for a woman caught up in this situation. I sleep better at night knowing I have made a difference.
Amen, Michael D,
I do the same thing. God bless you.
Our local pregnancy help center’s also a shelter for homeless expectant mothers and their children. The great majority are suffering from addictions and some additionally have been trafficked.
Homelessness in the USA asks, who will take care of and how will the children of homeless families be raised?
The United States spends near two thirds of a Trillion on arms to murder, exterminate, Genocide Millions of Humans military budget, much of used to exterminate Yemen alone, defiant to the Catholic Religion in every regard, in by Genocide, Unjust war. Defiant to prolife.
Who will educate the children, when orphanges across the US are closed as a cost savings, defiant to Pro Life, Education.
Yet the US has 5% of the world population, and 25% of the World prisoners..
Will women be jailed, if they have an abortion, as a punishment by the governemnt if they are illegal again?
What will be the fine, consequence in illegal abortion again?
Yet our government contributes to the Genocide of Millions in Yemen?
What about the genocide of 1 million defenseless and helpless humans aborted each year in the US? And our new president wants to have taxpayers contribute to that genocide as well.
from human rights watch website: According to the Yemen Data Project, more than 17,500 civilians were killed and injured since 2015
Stop with the repetitive stupidity and false accusations lyle. How many times do we have to remind you about this?
Lyle,
The fines and consequences of feticides if made illegal again will probably resemble the previous fines and consequences. Those affected the physicians or others who assisted, not the mother.
I think there were a few exceptions but it’s generally the party who performs the feticide who has broken the law.
If a women gives birth, puts the child in a garbage bag, ties it closed, pitches the bag-with-baby in the dumpster, and the baby dies, the mother will be hauled up on murder charges.
.
If she had had an abortion a couple of days sooner, she has committed no wrong.
.
Honestly, that does not make much sense to me.
.
In neither case, I suspect, does it make any sense to God.
Imagine being so morally bankrupt that the hill upon which you stand and will attack other people at a rally is the right to kill your unborn baby. Let that sink in. As for Lyle, there is such a thing called ADOPTION. I know that personally, because I have two children who I adopted. There are many couples willing to adopt and so to pretend abortion is a woman’s only solution to pregnancy is a lie, flat out. The other option if you absolutely cannot find yourself pregnant is to abstain from sex to begin with. Believe it or not that is a legitimate realistic option and a lot of people are celibate with no problem. Not just nuns and priests but widows/widowers and younger people who chose this option for moral reasons. The media narrative that the alternative to legal abortion/infanticide is dead women in the street was not even true in the 50’s. That was an absolutely rare occurrence even then. Thinking twice before engaging in sex doesnt seem like a bad idea. Ask yourself if it is worse or harder than killing your child??
It’s worth noting that many married women have abortions, not just poor unwed teens, or rape/incest victims. They are usually middle to upper class women. It’s about convenience and materialism. It usually occurs when their contraception failed. And many Catholic women think birth control is just fine, and although they stop short of abortion, it still contributes to the overall decline of respecting life.
Humanae Vitae, anyone?
The number one reason for black murder in the US?
No, not gun shots, stabbings, overdoses.
The number one reason is ABORTION.
For more than 35 years I have put my money where my mouth is – by donating to 2 pregnancy clinics offering an alternative to abortion – last year they saved 134 children from abortion and their mothers a lifetime of regret and loss of the potential. They provide physical, financial, and emotional support to the woman and her family. They also counsel women who have had an abortion to heal them as well. It’s not much on my part – but it is everything for a woman caught up in this situation. I sleep better at night knowing I have made a difference.
Amen, Michael D,
I do the same thing. God bless you.
Our local pregnancy help center’s also a shelter for homeless expectant mothers and their children. The great majority are suffering from addictions and some additionally have been trafficked.