Sanctity of Human Life Week 2011FACT SHEET

Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Psalm 10:12 NIV

Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.Psalm 10:12 NIV

Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering towards slaughter. ProVerbs 24:11 NIV

This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. JeremIah 22:3 NIV

FETAL DEVELOPMENT (an excerpt from “making an Informed Decision about Your Pregnancy”, Frontlines Publishing, 2000)

Day 1 The second the egg is fertilized by a sperm, it contains the plans for every detail of the baby’s development, including sex, hair and eye color, and height.

Week 3 The brain, spinal cord and nervous system develop.

Week 4 The heart begins to beat.

Week 5 arms with hands and fingers, legs with feet and toes, and eyes can be seen.

Weeks 6-8 brain waves can be detected.

Week 9 The body is nearly complete. Internal organs are present and functioning. Changes after the ninth week are primarily changes in size, rather than appearance.

Week 13 The baby moves vigorously and can make a fist. The fetus can experience pain.

Month 4 The baby is 8-10 inches long and weighs ½ pound.

Month 5 The baby may jump in response to a loud noise.

Month 6 If the baby was born during this month and given special care, he or she could survive.

LOCAL STATISTICS8,386 pre-born children lost their lives to abortion in south hampton roads in 2009, according to the most current published statistics from the Virginia Department of health.1

There is one abortion for every two births in south hampton roads.

U.S. STATISTICSeach year in the U.s., more than 1.2 million pre-born children lose their lives to abortion.2

90% of all parents who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome will abort their child.3

one out of every six abortions are performed on women who identify them-selves as “born again” Christians.4

at current rates, about 35% of American women will have had an abortion by the time she reaches age 45.5

African-Americans represent about 13% of the U.S. population. Yet, they account for more than 35% of all abortions.6

Status of the Law (an excerpt from “life is sacred”, Focus on the Family 2002)In 1973, two U.s. supreme Court decisions, roe v. Wade and Doe v. bolton, radically changed the legal landscape of american abortion law. The combined effect of the rulings required abortion to be:• legal for any reason, regardless of age.• legal for any reason during the first six months of pregnancy, and for

virtually any reason thereafter.7

More than 50 million pre-born children have lost their lives to abortion since these rulings.

1 Virginia Department of health, IToP table 1 report 2009.2 Facts on Induced abortion in the United states, The alan Guttmacher Institute (aGI), 2010, <http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html#2>, accessed september 30, 2010.3 Nugent, madeline P., snow, Kathy and lowney, mark X. (2008). My Child, My Gift: A Positive Response to Serious Prenatal Diagnosis. New City Press. p. 41.4 ensor, John. (2003). Answering the Call: Saving Innocent Lives, One Woman At A Time. Tyndale house Publishers.5 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “abortion surveillance 2004 report,” November 23, 2007. <http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/ss/ss5609.pdf> accessed November 9, 2009.6 “say What!”, life education resource Network, 2008. <http://blackgenocide.org/black.html> accessed November 9, 2010.7 “status of abortion laws in the United states”, 2010 sanctity of human life Guide, Focus on the Family, p. 30.

This fact sheet has been compiled by Crisis Pregnancy Center of Tidewater, Inc. (CPC) and may be reproduced without change and in its entirety for non-commercial, non-political purposes without prior permission from CPC.

Copyright © 2010 Crisis Pregnancy Center of Tidewater, Inc.