Proclamation 5147 -- National Sanctity of Human Life Day, 1984
January 13, 1984
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The values and freedoms we cherish as Americans rest on our fundamental commitment to the sanctity of human life.
The first of the “unalienable rights'' affirmed by our Declaration of Independence is the right to life itself, a right the Declaration states has been endowed by our Creator on all human beings -- whether young or old, weak or strong, healthy or handicapped.
Since 1973, however, 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 if 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?
We have been given the precious gift of human life, made more precious still by our births in or pilgrimages to a land of freedom. It is fitting, then, on the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that struck down State anti-abortion laws, that we reflect anew on these blessings, and on our corresponding responsibility to guard with care the lives and freedoms of even the weakest of our fellow human beings.
Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Sunday, January 22, 1984, as National Sanctity of Human Life Day. I call upon the citizens of this blessed land to gather on that day in homes and places of worship to give thanks for the gift of life, and to reaffirm our commitment to the dignity of every human being and the sanctity of each human life.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of January, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and eighth.
Ronald Reagan
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:24 a.m., January 16, 1984]
In a article by Andrew Blair he said-
The world has changed greatly in the...years since Ronald Reagan instituted Sanctity of Human Life Day. The pro-life movement has gained ground. Abortion rates are declining, states are enacting record numbe}rs of meaningful protections for unborn children and their mothers, and public opinion polls show more and more Americans identifying themselves as pro-life.
But tragically, abortion continues to take the lives of more than one million unborn children every year.
While the first Sanctity of Human Life Day observance was because of abortion of, at that time, 15 million babies and now approaching 60 million, the sanctity of life should motivate us to combat all forms of evil and injustice that are perpetrated against human life.
Since the day of Cain and Able mankind has continued to diminish the value of life. Violence, abuse, oppression, human trafficking, and many other evils are also violations of the sanctity of human life. Beyond the sanctity of life, there is a much better argument against these things: the greatest commandments.
In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus says,
"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
I have little doubt there is anyone reading this blog that does not understand the words of Jesus as stated in Matthew. The real question of the day is what do we do with what He has said and thus what we know?
Sanctity of Human Life Sunday began by proclamation of President Reagan in 1984 and has over the years had to acknowledge beyond abortion that the sanctity of human life is under attack in other ways and in all of this world.
We as a church have had mission teams in the Dominican Republic over the past few years. Specifically in the city of Sosua, which is considered the launching point for sex trafficking in the Caribbean. As a matter of fact, in just a few weeks another team will go to build a home for a family there. We are close to having the funds for this project (the team is paying their own way) and if you would like to be a part of building the home by investing with us then go now to www.MyrtleLake.org and use the OnLine Giving button. Mark your gift as DR Home 2020.
Let me continue these thoughts by saying that young girls are being used and treated as objects and not people, even by their own families as a means to provide the basics of life. Abject poverty for the Haitian people who have come to the Dominican Republic since the devastating earthquake of 2010. 80% of the people at the dump, near Sousa, are Haitian and will more than likely die and be buried in that dump.
"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”
We can never give up. We cannot fail to involve ourselves in adhering to the Word of God and "'…love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' …and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'”
A thought to ponder
Elbert Nasworthy
