OneLife LA: A March for All Pro-Life Reasons

The Los Angeles event, conceived by the local Catholic Church, is a celebration meant to inspire people to build a culture of life in a variety of ways.

LOS ANGELES — “Be Somebody to Somebody” — that’s the theme of a first-of-its kind pro-life event in southern California organized by local Catholic dioceses and pro-life groups, where participants will be challenged to take concrete steps to build a culture of life.

OneLife LA, to be held Saturday in downtown Los Angeles, is expected to draw 10,000 people for a celebration of life in all stages, from conception to natural death.

“We really want people to walk away clearly knowing what that next step is going to be in a lived culture of life,” said Kathleen Buckley Domingo, life coordinator for the Los Angeles Archdiocese’s Office of Life, Justice and Peace. The theme “Be Somebody to Somebody” is drawn from a saying attributed to Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

The Jan. 17 event will begin with a one-mile walk at 10am from La Placita Olvera to Grand Park. Local and national speakers, as well as some celebrities and beloved media figures known to Los Angeles, will then share their stories about their own choices for life and human dignity.

The event is family-friendly, with food trucks on site, as well as balloon artists and face-painting for children; it will conclude with a concert by Christian artist Josh Garrels.

EWTN (the Register’s parent company) is broadcasting the event live in both English and Spanish.

“This will be a day of family and friendship in celebration of the beauty and dignity of every human life — from conception to natural death,” said Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles in an online op-ed published with the archdiocesan newspaper The Tidings.

Archbishop Gomez said Catholics “are all called to witness to the gospel of life.”

“That means we need to stand with all those who are suffering in our society, beginning with those who are most innocent and vulnerable, the unborn and the elderly,” he said. “We need to defend them against every aggression — including the false compassion that suggests they would be better off dead than they would be if they were alive, loved and cared for.”

 

Partnerships

Domingo said Archbishop Gomez was inspired to call for a pro-life march in southern California: one that would not simply focus on the injustice of abortion, but challenge participants to embrace the vision of a culture of life in all its dimensions.

“It builds on the idea that the small things we each can do may in themselves not seem like a lot, but, by intentionally being pro-life in our own families, neighborhoods and our own communities, and working together, we actually create a culture of life. That’s what I want people to walk away with: that I don’t have to depend on a political leader or a faith leader. I can be pro-life right in my family."

The archdiocese has partnered with other community organizations whose exhibits will invite people to get involved personally in life-affirming activities right away: whether it be feeding the homeless, visiting the elderly, helping out at a pregnancy-resource center, witnessing with 40 Days for Life or volunteering with programs helping children of the incarcerated see their parents.

Right to Life League of Southern California (RTLL-SC), one of the key partners with the archdiocese, behind OneLife LA, is offering training in counseling post-abortive mothers as one of its practical options.

“There are one to 1.2 million abortions a year, and that means we have a massive population of people who are feeling its massive aftereffects,” said Anthony Sands, RTLL-SC’s president.

“By looking at life in a unified whole, those folks are in just as much need of healing as anyone who comes looking for peace and forgiveness.”

 

Stories of Life

Ryan Bomberger, chief creative officer of The Radiance Foundation, and OneLife LA’s keynote speaker, told the Register that people at OneLife LA will hear stories “covering the spectrum” of what it means to be pro-life.

“People are going to walk away inspired, knowing that nothing is impossible,” he said.

The lineup of speakers also includes Hollywood actress Patricia Heaton, former Major League Ballplayer Jeff Suppan, actor-director Eduardo Verastegui of Bella fame, Karyme Lozano of For Greater Glory, David Bereit of 40 Days for Life, Rick Smith, who blogs as “Noah’s Dad,” about his life as a father to a child with Down syndrome, and more.

Bomberger intends to share the story of his own “courageous birth mom,” who gave birth to him even though he was conceived in rape and gave him to an adoptive family. Bomberger was adopted into a family of 12 siblings, 10 of whom were also adopted. Some of these siblings, he said, “were equally written off by the world,” because they had disabilities or special needs.

“I grew up in the middle of all this and was able to see how God’s incredible purpose was lived out in so many individuals,” he said, adding that people cannot presume to know another person’s future or write it off.

“I want to talk about how we defy people’s expectations all the time.”

Other speakers are local to Los Angeles and will share their own choices for life and human dignity in cases of abortion, foster care and human trafficking.

A 27-year-old woman named Jessica is one of the local speakers who will share her story. Six years ago, Jessica wanted an abortion because she felt the timing of her pregnancy would ruin her life’s plans. Drinking too much water on the day of her scheduled abortion prevented her from going through with her plan at Planned Parenthood. She then went to a nearby BirthChoice health clinic and had an ultrasound, where the picture of her unborn son changed everything.

“It struck home that this is reality: that this human life is in me, and everything else that I had wanted for myself wasn’t reality right now,” she said. “The reality is: I wanted to experience life and do all these things, but I have, right now in front of me, an opportunity to experience life having my son.”

Jessica said life worked out “much better than I could have planned for myself.”

“Whatever changes people are going through, whatever decisions they have to make, they should know they’re not alone,” she said. “There are always people there to lift them up and encourage them.”

 

Building Bridges

The OneLife LA project is a joint effort of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, the Right to Life League of Southern California, the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Dioceses of Orange, San Bernardino, Fresno and San Diego.

“We really want to make sure that we are united, support each other; and [we] want other people to recognize that we are all working for the same thing: the irrefutable right to life,” Sands said.

Sands added that he hopes the event can help bridges between people who may tend to think of being pro-life “in only one context,” by showing them the whole pro-life vision.

“For example, we have constantly in our minds what happens with immigrants coming to America — documented, undocumented or otherwise — but if you do believe that people in those contexts should be honored or defended, or at least treated as human beings, then you see that all of this is connected.”

He said the message also applies to those who argue passionately against the death penalty yet support legal abortion and for those who vigorously oppose abortion yet find themselves challenged to reject the death penalty.

“If you are going to stand up and defend any part of life, you have to defend the rest of it.”

Peter Jesserer Smith is the Register's Washington correspondent.