By Dave Andrusko
One of National Right to Life’s many youth outreach programs is the NRLC Pro-Life Essay Contest.
It is our pleasure to publish this year’s winner for grades 7-9—Rosalia Palumbo—and for grades 10-12—Hannah Denise Stafford.
Each contestant who participated in the contest wrote an essay of 300 to 500 words. The essay was judged on its original thought, content, and accuracy.
In addition to $200 for first prize, $150 for second prize, and $100 for third prize, these fine essays appear in the 2014 National Right to Life Yearbook as well as in NRL News Today.
Congratulations to Rosalia and Hanna Denise and everyone else who took part in the National Right to Life Pro-Life Essay Contest.
First place winner Junior Level Grade 9: Rosalia Palumbo
Why am I pro-life? I have never asked myself that question, I just knew I was. Before I answer it, I should define what being “pro-life” means to me.
Being pro-life is protecting life, the lives of innocent, defenseless unborn babies, and the sometimes dependent, and yet invaluable, lives of the elderly. It means standing up for that third of my generation that is missing because of abortion, pressing the fact that equal rights, the right to life, belongs to the unborn, too. Acknowledging that all are gifts from God, and therefore are not burdens. Using our freedom of speech to stand up against this modern world, which frowns upon pregnant women, using our words of comfort, strengthen to reassure them. Being pro-life is more than just saying so. It is standing up for your beliefs and taking a stand against the injustice of this world, setting our eyes on heaven, and doing the most good for those who need it.
I am pro-life because I believe in equality. I believe all life is equal. From conception to natural death, all life is special. God has a plan for everyone and everything. It is not up to us to decide that because of their stage in life, there is no need or purpose or plan for the unborn. Selfishly choosing to kill them because of this is wrong, and I will not stand by and watch it happen. I am pro-life to bring an end to this. Depending on their family, friends, and caregivers does not mean the elderly are unable to do anything. Our selfishness is no reason to end their lives. They can give us knowledge and advice on those obstacles in life when we may think there is no one to help. Most likely they have been there before, and we can learn a lot from their triumphs and mistakes.
I am pro-life because I believe a life is a gift from God. I believe that pregnant women and unborn children are priceless in God’s eyes, and shouldn’t be any less in ours. I believe all life is in, and from, God’s hand, and that He is in complete control of when someone’s life ends. I believe that we have no authority, whatsoever, in this matter. It isn’t up to us to pick and choose who lives and who dies. It is not our place to decide that the unborn are “worthless,” and therefore have not place on earth. If they had no place on earth, God would not give them to us. They are not “worthless,” for God has a plan for each and every one of us, and mercilessly killing the unborn is not part of that plan.
I am pro-life because, as it has been defined, pro-life is “The radical idea that the elderly and the unborn are people, too.” I believe, and will stand up and fight for, this truth to be realized by all.
1st Place Winner Senior Level: Hannah Denise Stafford
Why am I pro-life? Life is everything. Of the three promises made to U.S. citizens under the Declaration of Independence, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,” two of them are meaningless without the first. Liberty and happiness hold no value to a person who is dead. Without life, there is nothing. When God created the universe in which we live, as told in Genesis 2:7 he breathed into man the “breath of life.” And through that breath, millions of descendants’ lives have begun. Thousands of doctors, teachers, engineers and scientists have been born from that single breath, because it possessed one powerful thing: life. This beautiful and intricate design of God is exquisite in every way.
Life is a blessing. As said earlier, without it, everything else would cease. The Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 30:19 that God has given us the choice of “life or death, blessings or cursings.” He later tells us to “choose life” so that we may live. Sadly, many of choosing death. They deny one person this precious gift of the Almighty while they are using it themselves in every breath that they take. God gave them life. What makes them entitled to take someone else’s?
Life is meant for everyone. The life that surges through the greatest nuclear scientist is the same that fills that little girl with Down syndrome; the life that feeds presidents and great leaders is the same that beats the heart of a tiny unborn baby. That same life is what pours through the veins of you and me. Only God can give it, and only He can take it away. He in all His glory and majesty took the time to breathe life into you and me, so why should we want to snuff it out? God has found a person worthy of that special breath, then who are we to say no?