Contact: Dolores Meehan, 415-860-7899; Eva Muntean, 415-812-3101; both with Walk for Life West Coast

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 14, 2011 /Standard Newswire/ -- The former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic and a couple who chose abortion and regretted it will headline the 7th Annual Walk for Life West Coast on January 22.

Photo: by Darwin Sayo

Saturday, January 22, 2011
11 a.m. Rally
12 noon Walk
Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco

Organizers expect more than 35,000 peaceful pro-life activists for the rally at Justin Herman Plaza and walk along the Embarcadero to Marina Green. The 2010 Walk drew a massive crowd with media estimates ranging from 23,000 to 35,000 people.

The speakers will include a couple whose decision to abort their first child wreaked havoc on their lives for nearly two decades before they found healing.

"It is important for men to confront this issue and refuse to stand on the sidelines anymore," said Rev. Brian Walker who with his wife Rev. Denise Walker founded the Minnesota post abortion healing ministry Everlasting Light Ministries. "Abortion can drain a man of his sense of purpose and vision."

"There is a heaviness and a very heavy shame that comes with it," said Rev. Brian Walker, "but the Lord healed me and he healed our marriage."

The Walk for Life this year will be on the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion.

Also speaking will be Abby Johnson, 30, who left her position as director of a Texas Planned Parenthood clinic in 2009 after assisting with an ultrasound abortion and recently revealed she had two abortions herself. Johnson, whose book unPlanned went on sale this month, said, "In California, one of the most pro-choice and liberal states in the country, it is important to show up en masse to show our support for women who have had abortions, and to show how important the sanctity of life is to us."

In addition to the Walkers and Johnson, other speakers will include Mary Poirer of Prayerbreaks who will talk about her abortion and Kathleen Eaton, founder of Birth Choice Health Clinics.

After the Walk, a Silent No More Gathering (www.silentnomoreawareness.org) will take place at Marina Green. There will also be an Info Faire at the Green. In addition, a Youth Rally will be held at 3 p.m. at Fort Mason.

Founded in 2005 by a group of San Francisco Bay Area residents, the Walk for Life West Coast's mission is to change the perceptions of a society that thinks abortion is an answer.

For more information: www.walkforlifewc.com/event.htm