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Times Square in Midtown Manhattan is not normally a place conducive to quiet reflection. However, last May, for just a moment, all that was different. A palpable stillness overcame a crowd of thousands as they watched the precious movements of a prenatal child projected live from a 4D ultrasound. And then the climax – the baby’s heartbeat! Such a simple sound, yet so powerful as its pulse was amplified throughout the square. How can one not stop and be drawn in by the beautiful and intrinsic sanctity of human life in that moment?

Join pro-life leaders to pray in agreement for life in 2020. Click to sign up for a week of thoughtful prayer points to guide your intercession for the sanctity of life in America.

Breaking through the noise of New York City’s busy and distracted streets is no small task, but, by the grace of God, Focus on the Family accomplished this feat during its “Alive from New York” rally using the power of cutting-edge technology. One of the event’s key speakers, Jeanne Mancini, who is president of March for Life (and recently was featured on IFA’s First Friday Prayer Call), lauded such scientific advances that continue to bolster the truth and urgency of the pro-life cause.

Science and technology are on the side of life,” Mancini later told FOX News. “It’s always been my belief that showing life as it is in its inherent beauty is so attractive, and that’s what really changes people’s hearts and minds.”

Indeed, far from being value-neutral, technological developments are proving more and more what is at stake in our nation’s decades-long abortion and bioethics wars. Fundamentally, an age-old question must be asked. What makes someone a person with intrinsic Imago Dei dignity rather than simply a thing that can be owned, utilized, or discarded? We know in our hearts from our reading of the Scriptures that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” in utero by our Creator and that we are so beloved by Him that He would sacrifice His very self for each one of us. However, science continues to give our heads more and more information about just how special we are.

In 1953, Cambridge University scientists James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA. Now geneticists know that four basic chemical bases in billions of pairs make up that roadmap for our physical bodies, and, while we are all 99.9 percent the same in our genes, a 0.1 percent variation makes us all individually unique. There is no one else like you. And you have had your unique genome since conception.

Lest thinking of DNA is too remote an idea, let’s consider the fact that we all have such individualized fingerprints that their unique qualities are relied on by forensics experts and, yes, for opening smartphones. Guess what? Our fingerprints are fully formed in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy.

Another tool that is quickly growing in accuracy and exploding in use is facial recognition technology. As recent congressional hearings have suggested, that technology has many ethical questions to resolve. Still, it again buttresses the belief that we are all distinguished from one another and special.

Beyond undergirding how “fearfully and wonderfully” we are created, technology is also showing more and more just how active and full of independent life we are before we are born. Advances in ultrasound technology are amazing, as many new parents and certainly all those rallying in New York City last May can attest. In addition, progress in fetal surgery and neonatal care is making leaps. Even a baby born at 21 weeks and less than a pound in weight has shown that with the help of modern medicine she could successfully fight to live on her own.

Before last year’s March for Life, Jeanne Mancini published a USA Today op-ed declaring, “[W]hat we have learned from scientific discoveries and advancements in the past 46 years is that abortion is not merely a decision between a woman and her doctor. There is another, who is most impacted by such a decision.” Those others are “unique, unrepeatable human persons deserving of our protection.”

Indeed, as we prepare for this year’s annual March for Life, let us remember those others—those persons “fearfully and wonderfully made” and their parents. Let’s harness the power of today’s technology to investigate truth and prove to reasonable minds the solid intellectual footing of the pro-life cause, and let’s pray that hearts would be lifted out of the fog of fear. Truly, that is when the battle for a culture of life will be won.

Join thousands of intercessors holding up the March for Life in prayer. Join our 36 hour prayer wall for the March for Life. Click to sign up for a one hour commitment of prayer.

As he recapped the “Alive from New York” technological marvel on his daily broadcast, Focus on the Family president Jim Daly said, “We’re right at the precipice where I think we can win in the culture. That’s why I felt like doing this now was critical…. I think it was the Lord saying, ‘Go, because now is the time.’”

Amen. May truth shine and love prevail. Now is the time to win this.

Aaron Mercer is a Contributing Writer with two decades of experience in Washington, D.C.’s public policy arena and Christian associations. A seasoned strategist, he aids organizations with research, analysis, and writing services, and he reflects on faith, technology, and the public square. Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn and Twitter.

(Image credit: Tetra Images/Getty Images.)

 

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HIGH COURT CONSIDERS ABORTION LAW NEXT WEEK--PRAYER STRIKE NOW | Intercessors for America
February 29, 2020

[…] If the Senate actions this week display anything, it is the vehement and unquestioning devotion demanded by the abortion industry in the face of all reason. Pray that the justices of the Supreme Court across the ideological spectrum will see through this fog and make a strong and wise ruling in this case. Moreover, pray that our nation will take stock of the very roots of this debate and will embrace a culture that honors and celebrates life, particularly prenatal lives that are voiceless but so “fearfully and wonderfully made.” […]

Vicki
January 18, 2020

Father God, You can win this battle over abortion when we, the church, every member, every believer takes seriously what Your Word says is sin. Any sex outside of the marriage covenant is sin in Your eyes, it does not matter what the culture says is okay, what is on every tv show and commercial, Your Word says You gave the gift of sexual intimacy to a couple, one man and one woman joined in a marriage covenant. Father we pray for those that are currently struggling with this sin, that are in relationships unleashing to You. Father we pray for the purity of our youth to remain intact until you provide that mate to whom You will join. Lord we must turn away from media that so influences our passivity to this sin, may we not take lightly Your word, and may we no longer suffer the consequences caused by our sexual immorality. And we pray for our govt, to no longer tie the LGBTQ+ agenda, as well as abortion funding to the foreign aid we gift around the world. As Christians, may we be appalled and repented for continuing to allow Your money in the way of our taxes to be used for such perversion. May there be a complete shifting of our laws and influence, may it be for Your glory alone as we pray these things in the name of Christ our Lord, our Savior. Amen

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Brenda
January 18, 2020

Heavenly Father, thank you that through science the world can see what an incredible Creator you are! I pray that hearts and minds are turned toward you so that we value & support all life. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

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Daniel Smith
January 18, 2020

“We are fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous are your works and that my soul knows right well.”

Forgive us Lord Jesus Christ Savior of all mankind for taking this issue soo lightly . Holy Spirit convince the world of this sin, of righteousness and judgement.

Motivate our hearts of compassion to repent and change our thinking about the value of children before they are born.

Let our hearts of compassion reach out to those who had an abortion and to those who need support in bring children into this world. In Jesus name Amen

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Krista Hilley
January 18, 2020

Lord, thank you for the progress that Roe v. Wade is closer to being overturned. May you be glorified and praised! Help us to continue this fight in prayer. We must not be slack in our prayers! We must continue this fight against the devil’s stronghold. It can be broken as we continue to bombard Heavens gates and believe in the greatness of Almighty God.

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Lois taritas
January 18, 2020

Father we know this breaks your heart, every life is sacred. You formed us in the womb, we have repented for this atrocious sin.
Bless the marchers as we stand for life! We know roe vs wade will be overturned, abortion will be no more.
In jesus name

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Dorothy Ter Horst
January 18, 2020

Lord, thank you that you are confusing the demonic realm fueling abortion. Please continue to make one lie prove another wrong until they kill each other and fall to the ground, in Jesus name, Amen.

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