This past weekend, tens of thousands of Pro-Lifers gathered together at the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco, California. Concerned Women for America and Young Women for America leaders and members were able to walk for the millions of babies who were never given a chance to do so. We stood with our brothers and sisters of different faiths, denominations, races, and ethnicities and prayed. We prayed for lives to be spared. We prayed for mothers who enter into clinics. We prayed for abortion clinic workers and doctors. We prayed for revived hearts in our communities and across our country to see the value of life and the pain of abortion. We prayed for those who live in guilt or grief over a lost son, daughter, grandson, niece, brother or sister. We prayed for those around us who were hurting.
As we finished praying and began filling the street, groups of people began worshiping in their different languages. The entire march down Market Street was inspiring and humbling. We walked shoulder-to-shoulder with women carrying signs that read, “I regret my abortion.” As we approached Fifth Street, San Francisco police officers lined the street and created a wall between counter-protestors and the walk. Walking in San Francisco was a much different experience compared to the March for Life in Washington, D.C. Grotesque signs, chants, screaming, sirens, and police officers made for a much more tension-filled walked.
Strong, shameless rhetoric lined the street plastered on signs and banners. The phrase we saw the most reads, “FREE ABORTION ON DEMAND WITHOUT APOLOGY.” However, the one that struck me the most, which I have seen many other times, says, “ABORTION SAVES LIVES.” I read that and stood still for a few moments. I looked around at the two sides and the police in between us. I felt the tension, the hurt, the anger. It was tangible.
These past few weeks have been heart-wrenching for many of us on the CWA staff. We have heard countless stories from women who have had abortions, from nurses who have helped perform them, and from children who have survived them. We have cried with these women and men.
And we will not give up. It is for our courageous leaders and supporters who have experienced loss that we continue to fight. In the midst of so much pain, there is HOPE. There is an abundance of peace, comfort and hope found in Jesus.
We have hope.