Every mother has experienced similar activity within her womb—sometimes quite rambunctious—which leaves her with no doubt that a person is living inside her. The life in Elizabeth’s womb already displayed the individuality God had infused into it. The baby’s leap of joy reflected the unique future God had planned for this yet-to-be-born child. He was to be known as John the Baptist, whose mission and joy were to prepare the way for Christ.

Science, too, strongly supports the conviction that a child is fully human before birth as much as after. The facts are simply overwhelming.

Dr. Watson A. Bowes of the University of Colorado School of Medicine has stated, “The beginning of a single human life is, from a biological point of view, a simple and straightforward matter—the beginning is conception.”4 And after hearing expert testimony on when human life begins, a 1981 U.S. Senate judiciary subcommittee came to this conclusion: “Physicians, biologists, and other scientists agree that conception marks the beginning of the life of a human being—a being that is alive and is a member of the human species. There is overwhelming agreement on this point in countless medical, biological, and scientific writings.”5

In his book A Case for Life, Scott Klussendorf summarizes these statements with these words: “In short, you didn’t come from an embryo. You once were an embryo. At no point in your prenatal development did you undergo a substantial change or change of nature. You began as a human being and will remain so until death. Sure, you lacked maturity at that early stage of your life (as does any infant), but you were human nonetheless” (italics added).6

Both the conviction of mothers and the evidence from science are compelling. But once we consider the place of God in prenatal formation, the argument is settled with authority. God knew and loved you as a fully human person before He ever made you. He loved you as He prepared you for this world in the beauty of human pregnancy. And all along, He had a life and a purpose prepared for you, suited to your unique individuality.

Before You Were Born, God Knew Your Dignity

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

—COLOSSIANS 1:16

I would not have wanted to be president of the United States on February 3, 1994. Or vice president. Or a senator or congressman or any other high-ranking member of our government. Those jobs are challenging on any day, but on that day a tiny woman from India made the leaders of the most powerful government in the world feel much smaller. She didn’t mean to. She didn’t berate or criticize them. In fact, she spoke quite lovingly. She simply talked about how valuable human life is to God.