Ventura, California
One committed pro-life student's impact can last for decades.
In the fall of 1997, 19-year-old Thomas Aquinas College sophomore Angela Baird started organizing a group of friends to pray at the Ventura abortion facility. She also began setting up a sidewalk counseling program.
And then, just as her pro-life ministry was ramping up, Angela suffered a tragic fall in a rock climbing accident. Friends rushed to her aid, tended to her, and prayed with her while awaiting paramedics.
As she lay dying in the California mountains, Angela used her last hours to pray for aborted babies.
"I will never forget that," wrote her friend Jon. "Her love for the unborn and the aborted is one of the most beautiful things about Angela's life."
Days after her passing, almost 100 classmates gathered to pray at the Ventura abortion facility--which later went out of business on the anniversary of her passing.
Angela's beautiful witness lives on a quarter-century after her death. "TAC students...continue to show up on the sidewalk to honor Angela Baird's legacy," said Monica, who helps lead the Ventura 40 Days for Life campaign. "They're out in force again this year."