March for Life, March for You
You were once a zygote.
The moment that you were conceived, spermatozoon fertilizing ovum, the genetic foundation that identifies you as you was established. You were living life while smaller than the period in this sentence, and you began to grow.
You were once an embryo.
Your body sought connection to nourishment through implantation into your mother’s uterine lining. Your heartbeat began to beat when you were smaller than a sesame seed and your brainwaves began to wave. You continued to grow.
You were once a fetus.
Growing and developing, sleeping and waking, feeling and moving, kicking and swallowing, seeing and hearing, dreaming and learning — you were living and growing in a safe environment that you needed to survive, grow, and thrive.
You were once a neonate.
You weren’t any different the day that you were born than you were the day before you were born. Your environment changed, but your needs for a safe environment in order to continue growing and thriving did not.
You are you. You have been you from the beginning.
May no one ever deny your humanity or try to willfully and intentionally stop the beating of your heart, no matter what. You are worthy of life. The One who knew you before your conception is glad that you are here.
I was conceived with a genetic flaw. Although my body can’t do all of the things that we think a human body should do, I know that I am fully human, that I have been from conception. As I’m writing this post, people from all over the United States are preparing to gather in Washington DC for the 47th annual March for Life, standing up for the rights of the unborn, urging and encouraging respect for humans in the earliest stages of their development. Standing up for you. I cannot march for your life, but I can love your life and celebrate your life with the little gifts that I have. May you always know that you are divinely loved, that your life, no matter how difficult it may be, has meaning and purpose. May you always remember that it’s good that you are here.
© 2020 Christina Chase
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Feature Photo by T. Rampersad on Unsplash
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Christina Chase View All
Although crippled by disease, I'm fully alive in love. I write about the terrible beauty and sacred wonder of life, while living with physical disability and severe dependency. A revert to the Catholic faith through atheism, I'm not afraid to ask life's big questions. I explore what it means to be fully human through my weekly blog and have written a book: It's Good to Be Here, published by Sophia Institute Press.
Christina Chase 
First thing I see as I switch on; every word true. Being around a small grandson is a great reminder of the love-ly-ness of new life. God Bless, Will.
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Awesome and lovely article speaking from the heart. I love the pro-life. I get reminded of this every time I wake up in the morning but I can walk being a stroke survivor I can walk sounds weird but I can walk and I can talk so that’s great. I just love your story and everything that you do Christina you keep on going girl. Peace
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What a beautiful way to awaken this morning…..with a cup of coffee and your article to brush away the cobwebs in my mind from sleep. I shall pray much today, that all those little dots be given a chance to form into humans, as God intended. As for this little dot that was protected and grew, I shall strive to be more forgiving, more loving and more thankful for my little life, and for my little friend who has taught me so much. Thank you and Bless you, Christina
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Thank you, Sioux!
I hope you don’t mind my writing this here, but I just want to say that those little dots, known as zygotes, don’t need a chance to form into humans — they are humans in the first stage of development. What they need is what we all need as humans — a safe environment in which to live and continue developing.
Always a blessing for me to reflect with you!
Pax Christi
Christina
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Yes. I saw the mistake immediately after I typed it….I was concentrating solely on the clever way you used the “dot”, but meant to put my comment in the context of the chance of SURVIVAL of the dots, not the chance of formation. Too late, I hastily hit “POST” without correcting it as a result of still too many morning cobwebs and not enough coffee. But I knew you’d take care of it!
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