If you drove near the mall on Oct. 7 you probably saw the annual Life Chain demonstration. If not, here is what occurs: Every year for the past decade people in cities all across the country hold pro-life signs and pray against abortion.

In Merced yesterday, hundreds of eccentric people who obviously had nothing better to do on a beautiful Sunday afternoon than to try to save the lives of unborn children (even though the 49ers were playing, the Giants and A's had playoff games, and the stores were having Columbus Day sales). I've participated each year since the beginning, and I've noticed a definite change in the attitude of the passers-by. In the early years, the reactions were evenly mixed between positive and negative, and have been getting steadily more positive. This year, about 98 percent of the input was positive: lots of thumbs up, waves and horn honking.

If Merced is any indication of the nation in general, President Obama and his pro-abortion counterparts are in big trouble come Election Day. We must continue to pray that the most radically pro-abortion president in history gets voted out of office before he can do any more damage to the constitutionally protected right to life.

STEVE BECK

Merced