As I write this, I am 30,000 feet in the air, traveling to our nation’s capital for the 53rd annual March for Life. It is a profound joy for California Family Council to serve as the official host of the California March for Life and to represent your values in both Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
For me, this year is more than a milestone; it is a homecoming. It marks the 25th anniversary of my first visit to D.C. in January 2001. That year, I joined a sea of pro-life advocates for both the National March and the inauguration of President George W. Bush.
As an 18-year-old high school student, I thought I knew what “pro-life” meant. My parents had brought me to outreaches for a decade. I was the vice president of our local Teens for Life and had just finished my Eagle Scout project for a pregnancy center in Sacramento.
But standing in the bitter cold alongside hundreds of thousands of others, I saw that this wasn’t a side interest or weekend activity. It was a spiritual war for the soul of our nation. In that frozen moment, God’s words echoed in my spirit: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5).
I realized then that fighting for life could no longer be a hobby. It was my calling.
That week, we did more than just march. We stood outside the FDA to protest the approval of the RU-486 abortion drug. We stood in prayer before the Chinese embassy to oppose their “one-child policy.”
Twenty-five years later, these issues remain at the front lines. Chemical abortion pills now account for over 65% of all abortions, slipping into homes unchecked and endangering women while ending innocent lives. China’s anti-family efforts have tragically borne fruit, with that communist nation recently reporting its lowest birth rate since 1949.
Yet, even in the face of these statistics, we see God’s hand at work. Since 1991, when there were over 2,100 abortion clinics in America, that number has plummeted by over 70% to fewer than 700 today. Meanwhile, nearly 3,000 life-affirming pregnancy resource centers now stand as cities on a hill, providing hope and healing to those in need.
We are the generation that saw Roe v. Wade overturned. But the victory in the courts was just the beginning. The “brutal reality” is that in states like California, our work is more urgent than ever. God calls us to protect the sanctity of life from conception to natural death, knowing that every child is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).
Sometimes the path is long, and the trials are many. If you had told 18-year-old me that it would take 20 years to see the Dobbs decision, I might have felt discouraged. But God does not ask us to see the whole map; He asks us to trust His lead. That’s why Jesus tells us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Sometimes, faithfulness is simply doing the next right thing; one bill, one outreach, one life at a time.
Too many people (even other Christians) dismiss “deep blue” California as a lost cause, mocking us from afar. But we serve the Author of Life, not fleeting polls! Remember Galatians 6:9: “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
As we enter another year in the trenches, we know there will be wins and losses. We know the 2026 elections will bring new challenges. But our hope is not in a ballot; it is in the Creator who knit us together.
The battle for life in California is not merely a political struggle; it is a spiritual mandate. We are standing in the gap for those who cannot speak for themselves, trusting that His light shines brightest in the darkest places.
As I land in D.C. and think of the work awaiting us back home, the Lord reminds me that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5). We refuse to give up on our state, and we refuse to stay silent. Please join me in this mission. Let’s continue to shine the light of Christ into every corner of the Golden State.
