Sanctity of {every} life

National Sanctity of Human Life Day 2017 is Sunday. Maybe you’ll hear about why life begins at conception or how Kentucky is among the states that now require women to have an ultrasound before they have an abortion or what Roe v. Wade did for access to abortion. Maybe your church will hand out a pamphlet or maybe you’ll see Facebook posts on all sides of the whole subject.

Maybe you’ll take some time to remember why every life matters.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” –Psalm 139:13-16

Sunday is a day when pro-life supporters take some extra time to recognize their opposition to abortion. President Ronald Reagan designated Sunday, Jan. 22, 1984 as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. That was the 11th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, in which, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that guaranteed women access to abortion. In honor of the day, Life House Care Center in Murray is handing out the awareness bracelets shown on Rachel’s arm in the picture above.

Let’s realize every life matters
regardless of the day.

{Tweet that.}

I’ve been thinking about the value each life has my friends have welcomed foster kids into their homes and adopted children who are no longer orphans. I remember my own kids’ birth moms. One dear friend is in China right now adopting her daughter. Other friends are pregnant and awaiting their babies. I spend a few hours each week volunteering at Life House, the local crisis pregnancy center, where I hear from women trying to provide for their children, struggling in their family relationships and finances, and spiraling in destructive circles.

All their lives – the parents waiting to bring their babies home from hospitals and orphanages, the children, and the ones who are struggling – matter.

Even the last two books I read reminded me how each and every life matters.

“When I Found You” by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a fiction story, but it’s a tale of how believing one life has value has ripple effects and can change many lives. “Juniper: The Girl Who Was Born Too Soon” is a memoir written by two journalists who tried everything they could to get pregnant and then had to try more of everything to sustain their baby who was born at 26 weeks 6 days gestation.

(I totally recommend both books. I’m adding both to my all-time favorites list.)

But lives matter beyond conception and birth too. People matter when they’re learning to walk and talk, and when they’re navigating hard emotions and waiting on circumstances to change, and when they’re elderly and learning to be dependent on their caregivers all over again.

Life matters – at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end.

*****