GUEST POST: As the Students for Life of America (SFLA) Pacific Southwest Regional Coordinator, I experienced déjà vu recently at the Walk for Life in San Francisco when my car was broken into for the second time. Back in 2021, one of my very first trips in this role was to this event, and while the march itself had been incredible, my vehicle was a little worse for the wear when a window got smashed on the way home. It was round two this year — here’s what happened and why I’m not discouraged:

When I was asked to drive to San Francisco, California again this year for their Walk for Life, attending with our West Coast team and organizing a pro-life after-party for our students, I had a gut feeling that something would go awry again. I was not wrong in that assumption.

Due to weather conditions and other unforeseeable obstacles, eight of the boxes filled with our supplies did not make it to their destination. Thankfully, we still received our banner and signs, and we were able to purchase all that we needed for the after-party. We packed it into my car the night prior in order to be prepared for the morning — but when we arrived in the parking garage again bright and early, my car window had been smashed, and glass was everywhere.  

It was the opposite window from three years before.  

I wish I could say I was surprised. Instead, however, when I heard my teammate gasp that the car had been broken into and when I saw the shattered window myself, I felt surprisingly calm. I had seen this before. It didn’t stop me then, and it was not going to stop us now.  We took stock of our inventory and — to our relief — discovered all that was missing was a large box of Costco napkins.

I’m not sure why someone would go through the trouble of smashing my window just to make off with some napkins…but it probably had less to do with a financial motivation than a hate-filled one due to my life-affirming beliefs. My car is adorned with pro-life bumper stickers so that I can witness for life even when someone is just behind me in traffic, and there’s a fair chance those stickers made the ever-angry abortion lobby lose it once again. 

Despite this, my teammates and I were undeterred, and this Walk for Life turned out to be one of the liveliest and most joyful pro-life marches I have been blessed to join. With bullhorn in hand, my SFLA team and the students of St. Augustine Academy carried our “Pro-Life Generation” banner proudly and marched with a wonderful crowd of pro-life warriors surrounding us.

As pro-life activists, we are going to face a lot of adversity but instead of letting it bring us down, we should be empowered to push forward. When we are persecuted, we need to take it as a sign that we are on the right side of history. Let’s keep charging until we reach victory — when abortion is both unavailable and unthinkable.  

READ NEXT: In Case You Missed It: A Media Recap of the 2024 National Pro-Life March & National Pro-Life Summit