In the pro-life movement, we work to help each other recognize the value of all human life. Unfortunately, many people tend to correlate a person’s abilities with their value. Individuals who don’t have a “normal” set of abilities are often judged as less worthy of a full life.
This outlook leads to the termination of babies who receive a difficult prenatal diagnosis while they’re growing in their mothers’ wombs. It has also led to an increase in euthanasia and assisted suicide. The correlation between human value and ability is often referred to as “quality of life,” suggesting that a person’s value can be quantified based on how capable he is of leading a life that he or others consider to be normal.
Often, however, human value speaks for itself in the face of what others would consider to be a disability. Take, for example, this dancer:
Then there is the artist, who saw straight through all of the things he couldn’t do and only focused on the thing he could:
And then there is Adalia Rose, who is so busy having a blast all the time that the fact she also has progeria — a profoundly debilitating, terminal condition — seems low on her list of cares in the world:
Sometimes, the value of a life isn’t as obvious to people, but that doesn’t mean it is any less present. It just means that others may need to speak up for them to ensure that their value doesn’t go overlooked. Like this mom did for her son:
