On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in the Roe v. Wade case opening an era of human devaluation. Each January, the Sunday closest to that decision date is reserved as a time of remembrance. We call it Sanctity of Life Sunday.
It is a moment to remember a terrible mistake by the leaders of this nation when 39 years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States of America legalized abortion. This is a time to deeply grieve over the denial of basic human rights to innocent children.
In the years since the Supreme Court legalized abortion, 55 million children have been denied the right to live. We have snuffed out a population equal to the size of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming combined.
We Americans should highly value “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” as the Declaration of Independence clearly proclaims. Yet, if we do not highly value life, there is no potential for liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is impossible.
As God-fearing human beings we embrace the reality that God is the Author of life, and that as His servants, we are to honor, respect and protect life. We are to assign the highest value to human life because it is the peak of God’s creation. According to His Word, human life is inestimably precious. While a sanctity of human life ethic may be disparaged by the world, it is God’s view. His Word is clear: human life – at all ages and all stages – is precious.
While the culture in which we live promotes the view that human beings are merely enhanced primates, Christians serve a God who tells us clearly in His Word that we are made in His image. Likening God to a potter, a vocation that was common in biblical days, the prophet Isaiah wrote, “We are all the work of [His] hands” (Isaiah 64:8).
The Bible tells us God is intimately involved with the fashioning of every human (Psalm 139). As a creation of the Most High God, we are precious in His sight. Innocent human life is to be protected – no matter one’s age or condition. No government has the authority to override God’s purpose.
This Christian perspective on life is not negotiable. It is the basis of every value we hold dear. If this value is compromised, we demonstrate disdain for all that is valuable in the sight of God. The value of life shapes our convictions on all social or ethical issues which address life: the value of life during pregnancy and at birth, issues involving end of life with the aged or infirm, and the quality of life of the years in between.
Chuck Swindoll said, “Not since the controversial issue of slavery ripped America apart at the seams has one subject troubled our country like abortion. It is virtually impossible to pick up a national periodical or, for that matter, a daily newspaper without seeing an article, a column, a story, or an editorial either directly or indirectly related to abortion. Physicians and politicians, educators and newscasters, radio and television talk show hosts, feminists and lobbyists alike are never far from discussing the subject.”
Among all of these voices offering an opinion on this issue, the ones which should speak the clearest are the voices of Christians. As people of conviction, it is impossible to be silent. I challenge every serious follower of Jesus Christ to do all you can in the spirit of Christ to change the course that has been taken the past 39 years. Volunteer at your local crisis pregnancy center. Give financial support to these centers and encourage your church to include a center in the church budget. Clearly and graciously share your concerns with your elected officials. Vote only for those who will clearly commit to ending the grievous calamity of abortion.
This is a moral issue, not a political one. God have mercy on our nation, our world and on all who are silent on this evil holocaust of the most innocent and most helpless of all human beings.
