The Sanctity of Human Life

Image from www.sbclife.net

Scripture:

Genesis 1:27 -

So God created mankind in his own image,

    in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

Job 31:15 -

Did not he who made me in the womb make them?

    Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?

Psalm 24:1-2 -
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it;
 for he founded it on the seas
    and established it on the waters.

Psalm 139:13 -

For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Isaiah 49:1, 16 -

Listen to me, you islands;

    hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from my mother's womb he has spoken my name.
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.

Statistics/Quotes:

"The second your egg is fertilized by a sperm, it contains the plans for every detail of the baby's development, including sex, hair and eye color, and height. [On week 3], the brain, spinal chord, and nervous system develop. 8 weeks after conception, baby has fingerprints and responds when touched. [At just 9 weeks], the body is nearly complete. Internal organs are present and functioning. Changes after the ninth week are primarily changes in size, rather than appearance."
- Making an Informed Decision About Pregnancy Pamphlet

"The baby has a heart beat 18 days after conception. Brain waves are detected after 40 days. All organs are in place and functioning at 8 weeks."
- Sav-a-Life Women's Resource Center

"A scientific textbook called Basics of Biology gives five characteristics of living things; these five criteria are found in all modern elementary scientific textbooks:

1. Living things are highly organized.

2. All living things have an ability to acquire materials and energy.

3. All living things have an ability to respond to their environment.

4. All living things have an ability to reproduce.

5. All living things have an ability to adapt.

According to this elementary definition of life, life begins at fertilization, when a sperm unites with an oocyte. From this moment, the being is highly organized, has the ability to acquire materials and energy, has the ability to respond to his or her environment, has the ability to adapt, and has the ability to reproduce (the cells divide, then divide again, etc., and barring pathology and pending reproductive maturity has the potential to reproduce other members of the species). Non-living things do not do these things. Even before the mother is aware that she is pregnant, a distinct, unique life has begun his or her existence inside her."

- Association of Pro-Life Physicians