Thousands attend 20th annual Walk for Life in San Francisco
The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade gave new confidence to those opposed to abortion, as thousands filled Market Street in San Francisco Saturday afternoon at the 20th annual Walk for Life.
The march, called "Walk for Life, West Coast," now draws tens of thousands of people each year from all over California and beyond. But when it began 20 years ago, founder Eva Muntean had low expectations.
"I'm not doing this because I think a lot of people will come out for it," she told a KPIX reporter in 2005.
She knew the anti-abortion message would be unpopular with a lot of people in the city.
"Yeah, especially that first year," said Muntean. "Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, everybody came out against us. But we live here. This is our home. Where else would we do it but in our home? Where else is it needed more than right here in San Francisco? So, that's why we started it here."
These days, the crowd swells to fill Civic Center Plaza. And as the numbers have grown so has a certain sense of self-righteousness.
"Always remember, you're right and they're wrong, OK?!" said one speaker to the crowd.
But that's the feeling on both sides of the abortion debate. And a small group of counter-protesters were on hand to defend their message on reproductive rights.
"San Francisco is a pro-choice town," said Ruth Robertson, a pro-choice advocate and member of the Raging Grannies. "And the reason they come here is to throw it in our faces. Come to the place, the quote, unquote, worst place on Earth.' Well, a lot of them are young folks and they've been told that San Francisco is hell on Earth. The kind of people that live here, the kind of people that do things that they don't believe in here."
And there are those who consider the city to be the lions' den when it comes to the fight over abortion.
"I mean, San Francisco's a dark place," said Lila Rose, founder of a pro-life advocacy group called Live Action."There's several abortion clinics here. There's a hundred abortion clinics in our state. But the darker the place is, the more it needs the light. And that's why we're here to speak."
But for most of the marchers, it was just an opportunity to have their say in a debate that has divided Americans for decades and has only been heightened by the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade.
"There's a lot of pro-abortion power and infrastructure built by the politicians here, but pro-life America is not leaving," said Rose. "We're growing and we're fighting back. And the future belongs to the pro-life movement."
Maggie Lemmon was helping carry the banner at the head of the march. She was part of a group of students bused up from Thomas Aquinas College in Southern California.
"It makes me hopeful and very excited to be here because it's just exciting to see all these people together, grouped together, for Life!" she said.
Twenty years ago, the first march in San Francisco to end abortion must have felt pretty lonely, but not anymore. Both sides have found their voice and it seems they're not shy about using it.
