Sanctity for Human Life

On January 22, 1973 the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion with the landmark case, Roe vs. Wade.

Did you know...

• There are over 3,000 abortions performed in the U.S. everyday.
• Around 1.3 million every year.
• It's estimated that in the 38 years since abortion has become legal, almost 50 million babies have been aborted.

Imagine.

50 million brothers, sisters, fathers, or mothers that God intended to place on this Earth.  But none of whom would become a son or daughter to a frightened mother.  A mother who chose death over giving her baby a life.

As a former advocate and volunteer at a local Christian pro-life pregnancy center, I know many women would not make this choice...if only abortion was never an option or choice.

Think you know Roe vs. Wade?
Well, think again.

Did you know...

• Norma McCorvey better known as "Jane Roe" was a 21-year-old divorced woman.
• She gave birth twice before becoming "Roe."  Her mother raised her first child.  The second was given up for adoption; to be raised by the father of the baby.
• When she discovered she was pregnant for the third time, she lied about being gang raped in order to have an abortion.  In 1969, rape and incest were the only reasons you could have a legal abortion in the state of Texas.  By the time her case went to trial, Norma had already given the baby girl up for adoption.
• Norma's lawyers knew that she lied about being gang raped, but pushed for the case to be heard to establish new laws to legalize a woman's right to abortion.
• "Wade" was Henry Wade, the Dallas County District Attorney who represented Texas at the trial.  He was also the prosecutor in Jack Ruby's trial for killing Lee Harvey Oswald.  Up until Roe vs. Wade, Wade had never lost a case.
• Norma McCorvey is now a pro-life advocate.  In 2005, she tried to petition for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs. Wade.  Her petition was denied.

So, a woman who wanted an abortion, but NEVER even had one was the catalyst that shaped history and affected countless lives.  Many of the women I counseled at the pregnancy center experienced shame, regret, and heartache over the decision they had made to end their baby's life.

Here's an excerpt from Norma McCorvey's second book, "Won by Love" published in 1998:

I was sitting in O.R.'s offices when I noticed a fetal development poster. The progression was so obvious, the eyes were so sweet. It hurt my heart, just looking at them. I ran outside and finally, it dawned on me. 'Norma', I said to myself, 'They're right'. I had worked with pregnant women for years. I had been through three pregnancies and deliveries myself. I should have known. Yet something in that poster made me lose my breath. I kept seeing the picture of that tiny, 10-week-old embryo, and I said to myself, that's a baby! It's as if blinders just fell off my eyes and I suddenly understood the truth — that's a baby!

I felt crushed under the truth of this realization. I had to face up to the awful reality. Abortion wasn't about 'products of conception'. It wasn't about 'missed periods'. It was about children being killed in their mother's wombs. All those years I was wrong. Signing that affidavit, I was wrong. Working in an abortion clinic, I was wrong. No more of this first trimester, second trimester, third trimester stuff. Abortion — at any point — was wrong. It was so clear. Painfully clear.^[2]


In 1983, President Ronald Regan declared the first Sunday closest to the date (January 22, 1973) when abortion was legalized in the U.S. to be Sanctity for Human Life Sunday.  


Let us remember that ALL life is precious and God-given.  
And God-breathed, just like His word...

• "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.  So then, don't be afraid.  I will provide for you and your children." ~ Genesis 50:20-21
• " Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.  For the LORD is your life." ~ Deuteronomy 30: 19-20
• "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." ~ Mark 10:14
• "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the right of all who are destitute.  Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." ~ Proverbs 31:8-9
• "Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.  Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' Does your work say, 'He has no hands'?  Woe to him who says to his father, 'What have you begotten?' or to his mother, 'What have you brought to birth?'  This is what the LORD says---the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:  Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?  It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it." ~ Isaiah 45:9-12
• "You whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth.  Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you;  I will sustain you and I will rescue you." ~ Isaiah 46:3-4
• "Before I was born, the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name." ~ Isaiah 49:1
• "Can a mother forget the baby at their breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?  Though she may forget, I will not forget you!  See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands." ~ Isaiah 49:15-16
• "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young." ~ I Timothy 4:12

And my personal fave...

• "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