Defending Life: Right to Life of the Central Coast

Pro-Life January Brings Talks, Displays

 

January, the Sanctity of Human Life Month, offers special possibilities for churches and individuals to honor God’s gift of life.

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Along with offering prayers and sermons upholding life, pastors can invite representatives from local pregnancy support centers to speak and bring information about their life-affirming services (please see pregnancy center directory). Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is Jan. 19, but special observances honoring life are fitting throughout January, according to Jon Lindgren, head of Right to Life of the Central Coast.

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On Jan. 4 and Jan. 11, Jon and volunteer helpers erected displays of 18-inch white crosses in four Central Coast churchyards memorializing those lost to abortion. The white crosses were placed at Calvary Chapel, St. Mary of the Assumption, and St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, and at St. Louis de Montfort in Orcutt.

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The 2025 national March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Jan. 24, will have the theme “Life: Why We March.”  Although it is too far away for most Central Coast residents, walks in two nearby California cities will take place before and after the national March.

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Los Angeles OneLife LA

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In Los Angeles, OneLife LA 2025, with the theme “Let Us Stand Up Together,” will begin with assembly at noon Saturday, Jan. 18, at La Placita – Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church, 535 N. Main St. at the corner of Paseo Luis Olivares.

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An expected 20,000+ walkers will set off at 12:30 p.m. for the L.A. State Historic Park near Chinatown.  The OneLife LA Festival there will feature speakers, live music, and food trucks.  A Requiem Mass for the Unborn with Archbishop Jose Gomez will conclude the day at 5 p.m. at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral.  More information can be found at www.OneLifeLA.org.

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San Francisco West Coast Walk for Life

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In San Francisco, the 21st West Coast Walk for Life will take place on Saturday, Jan. 25.  A Silent No More Awareness Campaign with Georgette Forney and Frank Pavone of Priests for Life is scheduled from 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the Civic Center Plaza.  The Plaza will have an array of pro-life information and education booths from 11 a.m.to 12:30 p.m.

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The main event program at the Plaza will begin at 12:30 p.m. and will feature four compelling speakers:

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• Ryan Bomberger, who was conceived through rape but whose mother chose life for him.He was adopted into a multiracial Christian family of 13 children, 10 of them adopted.He is an Emmy-award winning creative professional who, with his wife Bethany, founded the life-affirming nonprofit Radiance Foundation.

 

• Sister Deirdre “Dede” Byrne, a pro-life advocate and career U.S. Army medical doctor who served in Afghanistan.After retiring from the Army as a colonel, she professed her final vows as a member of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 2011.

 

• Kelly Lester, whose life has been redeemed from molestation, rape, abortions, pornography, and prostitution.Now a wife and mother of six, her current pro-life work includes outreach and government engagement for Abby Johnson’s And Then There Were None ministry, which saves abortion workers from the culture of death.

 

• The Rev. Clenard Howard Childress Jr. of Montclair, N.J., a veteran pro-life warrior in the black community and senior pastor of the New Calvary Baptist Church.He has been an honored speaker at nearly every West Coast Walk for Life.
   

At about 1:30 p.m., tens of thousands of participants will start a trek two miles down Market Street to the Ferry Building.  Information can be found at www.walkforlifewc.com.