“Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Sunday, January 22, 1984, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon the citizens of this blessed land to gather on that day in homes and places of worship to give thanks for the gift of life and to reaffirm our commitment to the dignity of every human being and the sanctity of each human life,” wrote President Ronald Regan.
Forty years after Reagan’s statement, the nation has seen many ebbs and flows concerning the issue of life and abortion. Since 1973, when the unjust procedure was legalized, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) – the nation’s oldest pro-life organization – estimates that more than 62 million American babies have lost their lives to the travesty of abortion. In 2022, many believers celebrated and cheered at the country-shaking reversal of Roe v. Wade.
Shortly following the law’s overturn, many pro-life states successfully (and permanently) closed the doors of more than 60 abortion clinics. But in its wake, Americans were quickly forced to learn new terminology, including “abortion vacations,” “chemical abortions,” and “abortion bans.”
Unfortunately, today, these ideas and terms have changed the world for many unborn children.
In the October edition of its “WeCount Report,” the pro-choice organization Society of Family Planning (SFP) released its data that revealed a shocking increase in abortions after Roe v. Dobbs in states that still allowed it. Yet, SFP also analyzed data concerning abortions conducted at clinics as well as from prescription pills to induce chemical abortions and found that in states where a ban was enacted, annual abortions decreased.
“States with abortion bans experienced the greatest reductions in numbers of abortions. In states with total abortion bans, cumulatively, there have been 94,930 fewer clinician-provided abortions in the year since Dobbs,” stated the report.
Sounds like a victory, to me!
However, it is important to keep in mind that although abortion numbers are dwindling in states that no longer allow the practice – it is still occurring – especially in states that border those with abortion bans.
Many women are crossing state lines to receive the procedure.
To combat this influx of abortion travel, according to the Washington Times, three counties in Texas (Mitchell, Goliad, and Cochran) enacted ordinances last October allowing its citizens to sue individuals “transporting women on local highways for abortions.”
And while Texas’ efforts are worth noting, it further proves the simple truth: American babies are still being slaughtered.
Before, during, and after the legalization of abortion, many Christians have honorably joined the pro-life movement in different capacities, including prayer vigils, walks, and even volunteering at clinics that serve the needs of expectant mothers and their unborn children.
Yet, there is still more work to do.
As Psalm 139 explains, the Lord knows and cherishes every life before its formation. On Sunday, January 21, 2024, the nation will observe its 40th National Sanctity of Human Life Day. On this particular day, I pray that you will heed the words of President Regan. Take time with friends, family, and your church congregation to honor the millions of lives lost, pray for those contemplating abortion, and join in the most gallant fight of all – the one for life.
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.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you (Psalm 139:13-16).
For more information on how to get involved in the pro-life fight Post-Roe, visit the official March for Life website.
