Pro Life
Starter Activity:
Arrange the students into their respective groups and show them the following videos on your phone:
Video 1: Seed growing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECibetK2EYI
Questions:
What did you just see?
At what stage did the seed actually have life?
Video 2: Baby growing in the womb - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH9ZJu4wRUE
Question:
At what stage did the baby come to life?
Lesson:
I. When does life begin?
The following references illustrate the fact that a new human embryo, the starting point for a human
life, comes into existence with the formation of the one-celled zygote:
• "Development of the embryo begins at Stage 1 when a sperm fertilizes an oocyte and together
they form a zygote."
[England, Marjorie A. Life Before Birth. 2nd ed. England: Mosby-Wolfe, 1996, p.31]
• "Human development begins after the union of male and female gametes or germ cells during
a process known as fertilization (conception).
"Fertilization is a sequence of events that begins with the contact of a sperm (spermatozoon)
with a secondary oocyte (ovum) and ends with the fusion of their pronuclei (the haploid
nuclei of the sperm and ovum) and the mingling of their chromosomes to form a new cell. This
fertilized ovum, known as a zygote, is a large diploid cell that is the beginning, or primordium,
of a human being."
[Moore, Keith L. Essentials of Human Embryology. Toronto: B.C. Decker Inc, 1988, p.2]
• "Embryo: the developing organism from the time of fertilization until significant
differentiation has occurred, when the organism becomes known as a fetus."
[Cloning Human Beings. Report and Recommendations of the National Bioethics Advisory
Commission. Rockville, MD: GPO, 1997, Appendix-2.]
• "Embryo: An organism in the earliest stage of development; in a man, from the time of
conception to the end of the second month in the uterus."
[Dox, Ida G. et al. The Harper Collins Illustrated Medical Dictionary. New York: Harper
Perennial, 1993, p. 146]
• "Although life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because, under
ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed.... The
combination of 23 chromosomes present in each pronucleus results in 46 chromosomes in
the zygote. Thus the diploid number is restored and the embryonic genome is formed. The
embryo now exists as a genetic unity."
[O'Rahilly, Ronan and M�ller, Fabiola. Human Embryology & Teratology. 2nd edition. New
York: Wiley-Liss, 1996, pp. 8, 29. This textbook lists "pre-embryo" among "discarded and
replaced terms" in modern embryology, describing it as "ill-defined and inaccurate" (p. 12}]
The above-mentioned references make it very clear that life begins at conception. However, our
concern is with how God views each one of us.
II. We are God’s design
Reflect on Psalm 139: 13-16
Prompts
• Who is our Creator?
• How does this Scripture tell us we are made?
• How is the word “fearfully” used here?
• What does it mean to fear the Lord?
• So, what does it mean that we are fearfully and wonderfully made?
• What is the secret place?
• Why is it called secret or hidden?
• What does it mean to be “woven in the depths of the earth”?
It was not long ago that it was impossible to see a baby in the womb. Today, however, we have
technology that allows us to get a see a baby while he or she is still in his or her mother’s womb before
he or she is even born. We have special cameras and devices that let us see the different stages of
development of a baby before he or she is born. Because of this special technology, we are able to see
what only God used to be able to see.
We can see into the once “secret place,” a mother’s womb. Sometimes when we see a photo of an
unborn baby, it is difficult to pick out different body parts on the developing baby. When we see a
baby’s “unformed body”, we know that God is “weaving” this little person’s body so that it can grow,
develop, and become ready to be born. Explain that even when a baby in the womb doesn’t resemble
a baby, we still know that he is a living human being because God tells us that he or she has a soul.
Even when it is difficult for us to see the little baby in the womb, God can see him or her and He knows
him or her even when he or she is not yet fully formed.
Life begins at conception – not birth. Birth is one day in the life of someone who is already nine
months old!
III. What is abortion?
The administration of any drug, device, potion, medicine, or any other substance or the use of
any instrument or any other means whatsoever with the specific intent of terminating the life
of a preborn child [the human being in existence from fertilization until birth].
"Abortion" shall not be construed to include the following: 1. a case in which the unintended death of
a preborn child or preborn children results from the use by a physician licensed to practice medicine
under (insert code pertinent to law) of a procedure that is necessary to save the life of the mother or
the preborn child or preborn children. And that is used for the express purpose of, and with the specific
intent of, saving the life of the mother or of the preborn child or preborn children; 2. a spontaneous
abortion (i.e. a miscarriage); 3. the removal of a preborn child who has died; 4. any therapeutic
treatment or surgery performed upon a preborn child or preborn children that results in the
unintentional death of a preborn child or preborn children.
Is this baby in the mother’s womb actually human life – is it a person yet? Well, Dr. J.C. Willke’s says:
“Upon its (this question’s) answer hinges the entire abortion issue, as all other considerations pale to
insignificance when compared with it. If what is growing within the mother is not human life, it is just
a piece of tissue--a glob of protoplasm--then it deserves little respect or consideration…If the only
scientific instruments you use are your own unaided eyes, then a common judgment that you might
make would be that “it isn’t human until it looks human.” Of course, the technology we have available
now allows us to visualize life inside the womb…But if this is human life, then we are faced with a
second question: Should we give equal protection to babies inside the mother’s womb?”
IV. What does it mean to be pro life?
Claims that the Catholic Church’s position on (abortion) is new or has changed (or are changeable) are
false and misleading. The Church has always taught that to be “pro-life” is to defend life as sacred from
conception to natural death.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that “human life is sacred because from its
beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with
the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end; no one can
under any circumstance claim for himself the right directly to destroy an innocent human being” (CCC
2258). Every human being has a purpose and is loved by God from the moment of conception.
Regardless of circumstances, every person has a fundamental and immeasurable worth and dignity.
We as Catholics are called to uphold this dignity of each person because each person is individually
created in the image and likeness of God.
Pope Francis has referred to our current culture as a “throwaway culture;” everything has a price
and can be used and then discarded when no longer useful to us. Unfortunately, this seems to not only
apply to the “things” that we use but also to human beings.
We need to be consistent regarding fundamental values at every age and stage of life. From the
child in the womb to the homeless, to the mentally ill, to the prisoner to the terminally ill — all have
value and dignity. It is our duty as Christians to see Christ in them all. We are living in an increasingly
irreligious society that continues to make it difficult to separate politics or personal bias when deciding
whether we are welcoming or loving to someone.
For us to consistently respect life, we must examine ourselves and call to mind where we are failing to
show that respect. It is easy for us to advocate passing laws to end abortion or to end physician-
assisted suicide. But it is not as easy to personally encounter those who Jesus would welcome at His
table, but we likely would not. Jesus calls us to view these people through a different lens. This is made
very clear in Matthew 25:45, “What you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.”
Many times, fear is holding us back from encountering certain people. When we allow fear to make
decisions for us, we reduce the inherent dignity of a human person making it easier for society to
discard them.
Pope Francis has called on all of us to counter this “throwaway culture” with a culture of “encounter”
to avoid not only indifference for these people but to steer us away from political idolatry. Once we
disengage ourselves from secular principles, we can see the true dignity of all human beings and get
back to the doctrine that each one of us is made in God’s image.
Class Discussion
• Ask the students to share their thoughts and feelings
• Who is the giver of life? If God is, then who gives the right to take away life?
• What more evidence would they need to recognise the worth of every individual including the
unborn?
Closing Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is
injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy; O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to
console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it
is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Additional resource
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010782417301889
