We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ——
These words are in our Declaration of Independence. This morning, I am thinking about that first unalienable Right given to us by our Creator, the Right to life. And, sadly, I am thinking of how that right has been denied to the most innocent, helpless and smallest among us, our unborn children.
“We have been given the precious gift of human life, made more precious still by our births in or pilgrimages to a land of freedom. It is fitting, then, on the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that struck down State anti-abortion laws, that we reflect anew on these blessings, and on our corresponding responsibility to guard with care the lives and freedoms of even the weakest of our fellow human beings.”– President Ronald Reagan.
“For thou hast possessed my reins; thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16).
I remember when Roe v. Wade made abortions legal in our Nation. I had a sense of disbelief; that this could not be happening here in America, the land of the free, the country which values human life and dignity. But, it happened. And, to my way of thinking, our moral fiber has been unraveling since, fiber by fiber. Life has been devalued, both in and out of the womb. Either we believe that we are made in the image of God, that we are wonderfully made, each person a unique and precious individual, or we don’t. If we don’t believe in absolute truth that does not change, that is bedrock solid, on what do we build our lives? On mores that change with each generation?
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Mary Edna Latty’s New Testament
amen, amen