Third Place Winner: Elizabeth Benz
Spiritus Sanctus Academy
Simply Beautiful
At the very beginning of life—at the moment of conception—a soul is created, a unique and unrepeatable soul that makes the beginnings of that life a human with dignity and with every right that every full-grown human has. God has gifted parents with life—a very simple form of it at the beginning—but a life nonetheless. That gift is something that is out of the control of the humans around it; it is a transcendent gift that cannot be taken away, except by the person who gave it. A human is by definition a body-soul. Those features are what distinguish a human from an angel or an animal. So, when both of those features are present, so is a human. And humans, by their nature, deserve the rights of life and liberty (in the sense of pursuing what is true, good, and beautiful). So at the very first moment of conception you have a human. Though not fully developed, these tiny babies still deserve the chance that every born human does.
A pro-choice individual would probably say that life does not begin until after birth or until after the first heartbeat, but science has proven otherwise. Jacob Stevens, a student from the University of Chicago, conducted a poll asking biologists when they thought human life began, and 95 percent of them answered with “at fertilization” (PJ Media, 95 Percent of Biologists Say Life Begins at Conception, by Tyler O’Neil). Life begins at fertilization/conception; there is no proving it otherwise. From a Christian point of view, this is when God gives the first forms of life a soul, thus creating an individual person. Knowing this, we must protect this life with all of our power because life is one of the basic rights of the human person, and it is morally wrong and very evil to consciously kill a human person.
People see value in the ability to “do”—in what they can perform and in how they benefit those around them—but that is not value. God has given us value; we can do nothing to lose and nothing to gain or earn it. That value is His love, and that love comes with our very existence, for we only exist because of His love. Every life is valuable in itself because of that love. Babies and children before the age of reason are the most deserving of that love. They are without personal sin, which means that they themselves have not defied the will of God, and though they have Original Sin, they are the worthiest of that love because they have not personally disobeyed God, though no one but God is truly worthy of His love.
Knowing that each and every person is a person with dignity and value because God has given everyone life and love, each and every person needs to defend that life and protect it from the moment of conception to natural death. Especially in America, where our country was founded on the basis that every person deserves the rights to “life and liberty,” it is so important to care for each and every child who is gifted with life, for each and every one is beautiful and unique. And the only just response to life is to accept and defend it. There is such a simple beauty in the innocence and defenselessness of life in a baby’s first stages. We see complete beauty in something so simple and yet so meaningful. There are many stories of mothers witnessing that their child is the greatest gift that they have ever been given and that children give them joy beyond any other experience. In each human at the moment of conception, there is a simple beauty, the tiny and defenselessness of those first stages of life, with so much potential, just ready to experience what they were created for.
Every preborn baby is like a pearl, without sin and completely pure, and those pearls need to be prized and protected from those who want to steal them from us. Just as a robber wishes to take the pearl from the owner, so the evil one wishes to take our children from us, but he is cunning and sneaky and disgusting, so he has convinced us of the worthlessness of the pearl and told us to throw it away ourselves. I can see Satan laughing at our stupidity, killing our own children and being proud of it. This is one of his greatest works in all of his gross schemes because he has convinced us to do all of the dirty work. We must protect these pearls and stand for the truth that has been embodied so beautifully on the cross—that every life, no matter how sinful, has value.
When you think of a baby, you think of a child just waiting to be born. When you decide to have an abortion, what you do not think about is what God thinks of the life you just took away. If I met a peer who said she was pro-choice and said that she was thinking about (or planning on getting) an abortion, I would tell her that her preborn baby has value and dignity and had value and dignity from the moment God brought him into the world. I would say that her baby deserves the chance to live and deserves our protection no matter what.
All babies, born or preborn, have value because they are loved by God and because they are His children. I would tell my pro-choice peer that when the abortion happens, she is not only taking her child out of this world, but also taking God’s child out of this world. All humans are created by God, and He loves every single one of them. It does not matter what their age is, whether they are born or are still in the womb; He loves them unconditionally. God not only loves them regardless of their age, but he loves them regardless of whether they were planned or unplanned. Their biological parents might have brought them to the world without meaning to, but God does not make mistakes; in God’s eyes, their arrival to the world is intentional and is not an accident.
Babies deserve the right to live because God has great plans for them. I would tell my pro-choice peer that her baby should not be aborted because God has an amazing plan for him or her, and he or she will do something amazing in life. No matter the age of a person, whether he is born or is still in the womb, God has a plan for his life, and if she trusts and obeys Him, He will lead her to wonderful things. I would tell her to think of a person who has gone on to do amazing things in life and then ask: “What if that person’s mother had gotten an abortion?” Some babies who were going to be aborted ended up being some of the people who have gone on to do the greatest things. However, regardless of what someone has accomplished in life, we all can make this world a better place. When mothers get abortions, they are taking away the opportunity for their child to impact the world in a positive way.
Babies are precious and have value and dignity because everything God creates is beautiful and good. I would tell my pro-choice peer that God is the creator of the child and that the baby is beautiful and good because that is what the Creator of the world is. God creates things to be beautiful and good because that is what He is; this goodness has been shown all throughout time and can still be seen today. I would tell my peer that if God creates something, she can be confident in the fact that the creation is wonderful. It does not matter what it is, whether it is a tree, a flower, or a preborn baby. Regardless of the creation, she can be sure it is beautiful and good. Also, it does not matter what stage of life the creation is at. A flower is just as much a beautiful creation of God when it is a seedling as it is when it is a fully bloomed flower. On the same note, a human is God’s same beautiful creation when he is the size of a sesame seed as opposed to a born child. Even when the baby is in the womb, the baby is still beautiful. He does not become “more human” or a more beautiful creation of God when he is in the outside world we live in now. The baby in the womb is just as wonderful as the babies in the outside world.
Sometimes mothers need some help. If my pro-choice peer told me that she felt like it was impossible for her to take care of her baby once he came into the world (because of finances, family, or something else), I would tell her to look into foster care. If a mother feels she cannot take care of the child she is carrying, sometimes the best option is to entrust her child to the care of someone else, whether that be a friend, a family member, or Children’s Services, who will find a home for the child. If my peer told me that she could take care of her child, but was nervous about pregnancy and raising a child, I would tell her to reach out to family or friends, because they most likely have tips and tricks on how to get through pregnancy and on how to raise children effectively. She could also find great help from her local Right to Life or pro-life organization. It might feel embarrassing or uncomfortable to ask for help, but it is a great decision in the long run.
Even though babies take a lot of time, in the long run a baby is one of the best things that could ever happen to a person. It might be hard and stressful, but in the long run it is worth every moment. Preborn babies have value and dignity and need to be treated with respect and love. They need our protection, not only because they are God’s children, but also because there is no telling the wonderful things they could do in this life, and who are we to stand in their way? They deserve the chance to live because they are God’s special creation—His masterpiece. The preborn baby is not a collection of cells that can just be thrown away. He is a living thing, loved and cherished by God. If God loves and cherishes preborn children, then we need to as well. These are the things I would say to a person who was thinking about abortion, because preborn babies have the right to be loved, cherished, and protected.