Opinion Pieces

2020 may be remembered as the year America grappled with the value of life.

From a global pandemic that gripped us in collective grief and cost hundreds of thousands of lives to a national reckoning on racial injustice, questions of life were central to a tumultuous year. We saw tensions heighten and dehumanizing political rhetoric intensify – encouraging and excusing violence across the political spectrum.

That is why now, in 2021, I believe it is more important than ever to be pro-life. More important – and more urgent.

Our democracy actually depends on it. When Nancy Pelosi recently accused pro-life Americans of being "willing to sell the whole democracy down the river for that one issue," she fundamentally misunderstood the core of what is at stake with this "one issue."

Without protection to the right to life, which Thomas Jefferson enshrined as the very first right in our Declaration of Independence, there can be no true democracy. Our entire system of government is structured around the idea that every human being has intrinsic dignity and worth, “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights” – including the right to life. When some lives are protected and not others, we harbor a grave inconsistency that is inherently an injustice. It makes it impossible to fully embody our ideals. This includes the unborn. Justice begins in the womb.

This is not a minor issue – it's a defining issue. An estimated 62 million abortions have occurred since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, according to analysis by the National Right to Life Committee. That's 62 million lives lost. As the scientific community continues to pioneer new developments in neonatal research and technology, arguing that a baby or human fetus is discardable and less than human only becomes more difficult, outdated, unscientific, and inhumane.

Yet, even amidst the urgency of this fight to protect and reaffirm life, let's not forget to celebrate what we're fighting for. We celebrate because life is a gift, and it's beautiful. Life matters because every person is distinctly unique, unrepeatable and irreplaceable – look at our DNA. Life is the one chance we are all given to exist, to breathe in and out, to experience the joy, sadness, struggle, love, and meaning that come with being alive.

The position of being passionately, holistically pro-life reaches beyond a single Supreme Court case or a specific set of policies. Being pro-life means just that: being FOR life. It means advocating for everyone's right to exist.

It means celebrating this gift we've been given: to walk this world, to wake up every morning, to work hard, to live with integrity, to discover what we've been created to do. And then to do it. It's not only about arguing against policies on a government level, it’s also being FOR life on a human level.

This includes constantly working to provide better support for women and their families. Thanks to the pro-life movement, there are now over 2,000 crisis pregnancy centers across the United States, which serve 2 million people, saving communities millions of dollars and providing critical support to mothers and fathers. It goes beyond just policy – it's about community. It's about coming alongside one another and saying, "I'm here. We'll do this together." That is worth celebrating.

Being "for life" also means continuing to improve America's foster care system and streamline pathways for adoption. The inherent beauty of adoption is that it's a story of "yes." First, a mother says yes to her child's right to life, and then a forever family says yes to the newest member of their family. One of God’s biggest blessings was bringing our daughter into our lives, and I’m grateful every day that her birthmother looked to adoption. It's not a narrative of "no" – of being unwanted or unloved. It's a story of life being protected and respected, again and again. That is worth celebrating.

We have walked through a dark year as a nation and as a world. As we face a new year and gird ourselves for the challenges that lie ahead, let's affirm the value and dignity of every human life. Let's fight fiercely for equal protection under the law for the lives of every American citizen, including unborn children. Let's also remember to cherish the lives and affirm the humanity of everyone around us – our friends, family, our own lives, our neighbors, those we most love and those whom with we most disagree.

Let's be FOR life.