Thank you for participation in this year's Life Issues Contest. Please see the winning essay below.

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1st Place Essay in the Elementary School Division:

 

Children Are a Heritage from the Lord

 

By Adalena Allen, 8th Grader at St. John Lutheran Church in Midland

 

Have you ever seen a pregnant woman and wondered what the baby inside her looks like? When I was seven years old, my baby sister was born two months early. Now, when I see a pregnant woman in her third trimester, I know exactly what the baby inside her looks like. Abortion is morally unacceptable because it involves taking a human life, a belief that is shaped by questions of when life begins, religious perspectives, and moral responsibility.

 

A key argument in abortion centers around when life begins. Many scientists agree that at conception an organism with a unique genetic code is created. A heartbeat can be heard as soon as six weeks after conception. Babies in the womb undeniably have personalities and habits, and they can respond to stimuli. (Cleveland Clinic) As the Bible says in Psalms 139:13, “For you formed my inward parts, you knitted me in my mother's womb”. (Bible ESV) When my sister was born prematurely, she was fully formed with the same sweet facial features she has today.

 

Biblical teachings do not support abortion. “You shall not murder,” Exodus 20:13. (Bible ESV) Killing an unborn child is murder and the Bible clearly states murder is wrong. It’s a commandment that we do not murder. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly,” John 10:10. (Bible ESV) The Lord is the giver of life. We do not have the right to make a choice against life.

 

Many parents and hospitals fight for premature babies to survive. How is it fair that babies born at twenty-four weeks gestation have people fighting to keep them alive while in other cases, we permit abortions at twenty-four weeks gestation? We have a moral responsibility to fight for all lives. “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute,” Proverbs 31:8. (Bible NIV) Unborn babies need us to be their voice

 

In conclusion, life begins at conception and therefore, abortion is murder. Murder is wrong in the eyes of the Lord, thus making abortion wrong. It’s our moral responsibility to fight for those who have no voice, like the unborn, so that they may have life. “Behold. Children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward,” Psalm 127:3. (Bible ESV)

 

 

Works Cited

 

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, My Creative Bible for Girls. Christian Art Publishers. (2018)

 

The Holy Bible, New International Version. Zondervan, 1996.

 

Cleveland Clinic. “Fetal Development,” March 19, 2024. MyClevelandclinic.orghealth/articles/7247-fetal-development- stages-of-growth (accessed February 2, 2026)