I just saw the Alabama Governor say, “All life is precious.”  I have no doubt that she believes that.

Where I stumble (which comes from my ‘life’ experiences both personally and professionally) is in the knowing that there is LOTS of LIFE already out of the womb that does not SEEM to be dealt with as if it were “precious”.

It is why I think those writing and pushing these legislations would be more aptly named ‘right to birth’ rather than ‘right to life’.  Simply put, no matter when one thinks LIFE begins INSIDE of the womb most of LIFE is lived OUTSIDE of the womb.

It follows then that if all life is precious, we will do all we can as citizens to see that children will have food and shelter and education and health care and love as soon as they leave the womb.  If all life is precious we will have plentiful resources available for those new mothers whose babies MUST be born. If all life is precious then there will be waiting lists for the children without homes. If all life is precious then we will work together as a culture to focus on keeping migrant children WITH their parents helping them to find a safe place to live. If all life is precious we will consider putting away our guns simply because of the very possibility that a life might be taken when using a deadly weapon. If all life is precious then those who don’t look or act or worship or love exactly like me shall still be welcome into my church and my home and my heart.  If all life is precious than the video I posted of the day we spent feeding people who LIVE IN A DUMP would break every heart.

In other words, if we’re going to fight for birth then how can we NOT fight for the PRECIOUS LIVES already here?