Live Action’s 2nd Annual Unite for Life Festival took place at the Santa Monica Pier on Saturday, October 8, featuring musical guests and pro-life speakers who energized the pro-life crowd in celebration of the fall of Roe v. Wade in June.
Country star RaeLynn performed, as did Christian artist Alexander Pappas, along with hip-hop artist and actress WANDE, among others. Speakers included Live Action president and founder Lila Rose, conservative commentator and “Relatable” podcast host Allie Beth Stuckey, New York Times bestselling author and speaker Lisa Bevere, and Live Action’s Christina Bennett and Sami Parker.
RaeLynn (Photo: Live Action)
Each speaker rallied the crowd to be brave in the fight for life, because the end of Roe v. Wade was only the beginning of the pro-life movement’s work.
“The fact that you are on this pier in one of the most pro-abortion locations in the whole world proves that you have courage. It proves that every single one of you has courage,” said Live Action social media associate Sami Parker, frequently featured in Live Action’s TikTok and Instagram videos. “[…] We can say that our movement is bold because of people like you who are ready to show up. But guess what, you and I need to be bolder, and we need to be louder, and that’s exactly why we are here tonight.”
Sami Parker (Photo: Live Action)
Parker shared that four out of five pro-lifers that she surveyed on social media said they are holding back from being boldly pro-life out of fear — and noted that when she came out publicly as pro-life two years ago, she lost friends, family, and thousands of followers. But she didn’t let the pain of those losses stop her from standing up for life, and no pro-lifer should.
Alexander Pappas (Photo: Live Action)
Allie Beth Stuckey also inspired the crowd to be unapologetically pro-life, despite the attacks pro-life organizations have faced in recent months. “… Now is not the time to back down, but now is actually the time to double down because we are standing in a post-Roe America and this was the result of not only the grace and the providence of God — it was the result of 50 years plus of activism and advocacy from people just like you.”
Allie Beth Stuckey (Photo: Live Action)
Stuckey noted that the obstacles and fears that pro-lifers face are valid. But if there’s one thing worth fighting for, its life. She urged the crowd to be a “light in the darkness.”
L to R: Lisa Bevere, Lila Rose, Allie Beth Stuckey, RaeLynn
Speaker and author Lisa Bevere shared with the crowd something she said she once told her son:
I believe your generation is for signs and miracles, not death and destruction. But every generation has a choice, and we are not walking the earth in a day where things are clear. I don’t know if you know this, but we live in a day where evil is called good and good is called evil. We’re in a day where lies are called truth and truth is called lies — and in this day and time you need to know the word of God… And there is a battle that has been going on for the life of the next generation. It isn’t about choice. It’s about legacy. And you don’t understand what a threat this next generation is to the enemy… You were woven in your mother’s womb for wonder. You were not woven to be afraid. You were woven for this moment to be warriors of life and strength.
WANDE (Photo: Live Action)
Likewise, Rose spoke about the need for pro-lifers to stand up for life. “We stand here today in a city, a city that’s known for acceptance, in a state that’s known for tolerance, in a nation that’s known for equality, and yet we also are in a city, in a state, in a nation that has forgotten and rejected the very values it claims to stand by,” said Rose. “And we know this because we have rejected equality, we have rejected tolerance, we have rejected true justice for our most vulnerable, for our brothers and sisters in the womb. who are human beings just like you and just like me.”
Lila Rose (Photo: Live Action)
She continued, “We must be the light in the darkness. we must be the ones to start a fire that cannot be stopped. Throughout history, it has been… the determined ones that changed the course of history to lead it towards the light, to lead it towards the truth. And so the question for us tonight is this: Will we be those people for California? Will we be those people for this time, for this era, for our nation?”
Rose urged the crowd to be “fire starters” for life.
“We have to start a fire,” she said. “And fires burn… And fires take courage. And that’s the call for tonight — the call for courage.”
