Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (SOHLS) was established in 1983 as a special day to focus on the intrinsic value of life. Closest to the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton on January 22, 1973, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday allows us to reflect on our responsibility to “care for the lives and the freedoms of even the weakest of our fellow human beings” (Ronald Reagan).
President Ronald Reagan issued this proclamation while establishing a National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday:
“Since 1973...more than 15 million unborn children have died in legalized abortions — a tragedy of stunning dimensions that stands in sad contrast to our belief that each life is sacred. These children, over tenfold the number of Americans lost in all our Nation’s wars, will never laugh, never sing, never experience the joy of human love; nor will they strive to heal the sick, or feed the poor, or make peace among nations. Abortion has denied them the first and most basic of human rights, and we are infinitely poorer for their loss.
“We are poorer not simply for lives not led and for contributions not made, but also for the erosion of our sense of the worth and dignity of every individual. To diminish the value of one category of human life is to diminish us all. Slavery, which treated Blacks as something less than human, to be bought and sold in convenient, cheapened human life and mocked our dedication to the freedom and equality of all men and women. Can we say that abortion — which treats the unborn as something less than human, to be destroyed if convenient — will be less corrosive to the values we hold dear?”
Sadly, the number of aborted babies spoken of by President Reagan has grown to over 55 million in the United States. This year, Sanctity of human life Sunday will be observed on January 22, 2012. Churches and Pregnancy Centers across the nation will be standing in the gap for the unborn through prayer and providing life-giving resources to communities and women in need. Please visit our resources/research tab for pro-life materials or call (561) 688-2163 for more information.