Walk for Life in San Francisco: 40,000 Despite the Rain!

The West Coast Walk for Life in San Francisco last weekend was amazing! Imagine 40,000 people standing in the rain to listen to speakers championing life, and then walking 2.5 miles along the San Francisco waterfront -- parents with children in strollers, elderly men and women, Roman Catholic Christians, Evangelical Protestant Christians, Jews, Mormons -- everyone celebrating and praying for life.

The purpose is to stand up and say: human life is sacred and must be defended from conception to natural death.

We are supportive of mothers, of fathers, and of babies. No one was there to condemn a woman with an unexpected pregnancy. Everyone was there to help mothers, and to help fathers, and to help babies -- to give a voice to the voiceless.

Everyone was praying, singing, laughing or just quietly walking. The only frowns were from tiny knots of counter protesters, a strange mix of atheists, pro-choice advocates, and random advocates for who knows what (this was San Francisco after all).

The leaders of the procession held signs like this: "I regret my lost fatherhood", "I regret my abortion", "Women deserve better than abortion".

Some of my favorite signs read: "As a former fetus, I oppose abortion", "A person is a person, no matter how small. Dr. Seuss", "Jesus heals".

The speakers included: a woman who deeply regrets killing her baby, a former abortion clinic worker who had a conversion and now is a Pro-Life advocate, an Evangelical Protestant minister, a Pro-Life advocate from France, a Roman Catholic priest -- really inspiring.

What can you do? Please write your Congressional representative to keep abortion funding out of health care reform. I recommend this easy to use site by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops:

http://tinyurl.com/StopAbortion

Also, keep an eye out for people collecting signatures for a change to the Constitution of the State of California to change the definition of a human being to include a fetus.

US Bishops Ask Us to Write Congress: Stop Abortion Funding in Health Care Reform

Here is a message from the Social Justice Coordinator from my own bishop's office:

Stop Abortion Funding in Health Care Reform:
Protect Conscience - Ensure Affordable Health Coverage - Allow Immigrants to Purchase Private Health Insurance

As long-time advocates of health care reform, the U.S. Catholic bishops continue to make the moral case that genuine health care reform must protect the life, dignity, consciences and health of all, especially the poor and vulnerable. Health care reform should not advance a pro-abortion agenda in our country.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW: Contact your Representative and Senators today by e-mail as soon as possible. It took me less than 5 minutes today. To send a pre-written, instant e-mail to Congress go to www.usccb.org/action.

To read a nice summary of the US Bishops' position, go to: http://www.oakdiocese.org/pastoral/SocialJustice/