Why We Walk

Below is another one of my entries for the San Diego Walk for Life website’s blog. I have amended slightly since the Walk took place a couple of days ago. But we plan to continue. And on this Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, I just want to share the fact that we are non-violent individuals in the pro-life movement who join together to right a wrong that we feel has gone on for too long.

Love Them Both

Probably the one good thing out of all this is that the opposition to bringing babies into the world has spurred the pro-life movement to offer more and better support and services to the women who carry the babies in the unplanned pregnancies that lead to abortion.

Some say abortion is a political issue. But it’s more than anything a moral issue. And the pro-life movement is here to welcome in and walk the journey with the woman, the mother, who is carrying that life within her. No one in the Culture of Life expects a woman to go through any of this alone. You can find help from so many pregnancy resource centers. There is no judgment, no condemnation – only love and support…

I’ve been thinking a lot about the San Diego Walk for Life lately. As a member of the 2020 planning committee, that’s not surprising. But I probably would be thinking about it anyway as I have been struggling with ways to let the world know what the modern pro-life movement is about.

The Reasons Why

It’s vitally important for people to know the reasons we walk every January. For some it is a “rally the troops” moment, when those proponents of the right to life for babies and for support of the women who carry them, come together to find strength and encouragement with like-minded individuals. And that is part of it, definitely.

But what if we gather to be a witness to the culture at large that does not appear to be especially pro-life? We declare that lives matter – that where there is life there is hope – that those who care about the unborn children also care about the mothers who will hopefully bring them into the world.

You Are Not Alone

What if we gather to let others who care about these fragile lives of women and babies know that they are not alone? Or to maybe know that there are more of us than the general public knows about? I have noted before that there are more pregnancy resource centers in our area than there are abortion facilities. That should bring hope to women who are wondering what to do when faced with an unplanned pregnancy.

We walk to let those women know there is a place for them and the babies they carry. There are people moved with compassion who are available to assist, support, and accompany the women and their babies through all stages of development, through delivery, and beyond.

We have to walk in a public space to show anyone in need where they can go to get help and anyone who wants to help where to go to volunteer or donate goods or funds.

We walk to show that in our society, our culture, there beats a heart for people in need, that every baby is wanted and every woman who thinks she’s alone will discover that she will never be alone. And neither will her child.

These are the reasons why we walk. We hope you’ll join us.