The Walk for Life West Coast is an annual pro-life event protesting abortion, held in San Francisco, California. It is held on a Saturday on or near January 22, the anniversary date of the decision in the United States Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade.
The first Walk for Life was held on January 22, 2005. Several thousand protesters (7,000, according to organizers) gathered downtown in Justin Herman Plaza and marched 2.5 miles to the Marina Green via the waterfront.
Organizers claimed 15,000 demonstrators in 2006 and 20,000 in 2007. In 2008, the San Francisco Chronicle estimated at least 10,000 people were bussed in from all over the state and beyond. On Saturday, January 24, 2009, organizers claimed "tens of thousands" of marchers. On Saturday, January 22, 2011, more than 40,000 people gathered for the seventh annual Walk, in downtown San Francisco.
Supporters of legal abortion have staged yearly counter-demonstrations, much smaller in size than the pro-life demonstration. Local media noted that the tone in encounters between opposing sides grew less confrontational in 2009.