May 2026 Newsletter
Featured article: "Life is Worth Living"
Emily Duplechin
I'm going to be super real with y'all - I had a really hard time figuring out what to write this month. Life has been absolutely crazy for me lately, what with starting my first job and getting used to that, plus dealing with college planning and senior portraits and graduation. And all that in addition to my responsibilities with SFL. I'm not going to lie, I'm tired and a tad overwhelmed. BUT, I knew I needed to write a good newsletter for y'all, and by golly, that's what I'm going to do! So, while I was trying to come up with a good topic for this article, I started thinking about all the stuff I've been doing, looking for inspiration. Naturally, thinking about life, and the state of my life recently, got me thinking about a particular argument that I've seen used multiple times in pro-life vs pro-abortion debates.
The argument that I keep coming across goes something like this: “If it (the baby) is going to be born into poverty/a difficult and horrible situation, and will therefore have a horrible life, it's okay to abort it.” Of course, most pro-choicers won't say it in so many words, but the idea is the same. Why do they think this way? What gives them the right to judge if another person's life is worth living?
I'm fairly certain that most, if not all, of the people in this world will go through some kind of hardship in their lives. Some will have it more than most, but that's just part and parcel of being human. There's no one on this earth who can say they've had no struggles or hardships, even if those struggles have been small. As Christians, we know God gave us everything we need to endure those difficulties. So why base the value of a person's life on how easy or hard their life is likely to be? It just doesn't make sense. My life has been hectic recently, I struggled with mental health a few years back, but I never once wished that my mom had aborted me. I love my life, and it is worth living, no matter how difficult some circumstances may be.
If every single person on this earth will experience difficulty, why do some pro-choicers think they can decide if another person's life is worth living based on possible future hardship? I couldn't tell you what they think gives them the right to decide. Perhaps it's because they don't believe it's an actual child, an actual life just waiting to accomplish its full potential. In which case, it's our responsibility to point out the holes in that assumption. (Quick shoutout to Jeremiah for helping us learn how to do that in his wonderful Apologetics Nights!) It is our responsibility to tell them that, even if it is just "a potential life," we can't accurately judge how it will view its life in the future. We can't judge quality of life for other people, because everyone experiences things differently. We cannot decide if another's life is worth living.
As the school year and my year in Students for Life leadership comes to a close, as a new season of life begins, I feel it's important to stress that no matter what, every life is worth living. Even if that life will be hard, we cannot know how a child will view their life in the future. We cannot know how they will see their quality of life. It is not our place to judge if a life is worth living. God is the judge. He decides, and He has told us that every life is precious. By that we know, and I will repeat this one more time, that life is worth living. So, live your life to the fullest. Love your fellowman. Your reward will be great in Heaven.
I close with the words that Venerable (soon to be Blessed) Fulton J. Sheen used at the end of his telecast, Life is Worth Living - "Bye now, and God love you!"
God love you.
Prayers
Every Life is Worth Living
Heavenly Father, thank you
for the precious gift of life.
Help us to cherish and protect
this gift, even in the midst of fear,
pain, and suffering.
Give us love for all people,
especially the most vulnerable,
and help us bear witness to the
truth that every life is worth living.
Grant us the humility to accept
help when we are in need,
and teach us to be merciful to all.
Through our words and actions,
may others encounter the
outstretched hands
of Your mercy.
We ask this through
Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Quotes
"Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life." – Catechism of the Catholic Church 2270
"I believe our society has a responsibility to defend the vulnerable and the weak. And I believe our nation should set a goal that unborn children should be welcomed in life and protected in law." – President George W. Bush
"The right to life is the first right mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Every human being, born or pre-born, is entitled to this fundamental right." – Dr. Jerome Lejeune, French pediatrician and geneticist
"If the unborn is not a human person, no justification for abortion is necessary. However, if the unborn is a human person, no justification for abortion is adequate." – Greg Koukl, Christian Apologist and Founder of Stand to Reason
Memes
News
Steven Ertelt
Steven Ertelt
Steven Ertelt
Steven Ertelt
Upcoming Events
Rosary for Life: May 5th @ 7pm ET
Apologetics Night: May 12th @ 7pm ET
Monthly Meeting: May 18th @ 7pm ET
Members - Please Consider Submitting Content:
This newsletter relies heavily on the contributions of group members. There are a number of items we are looking for:
- Creative content: We have implemented a segment of the newsletter dedicated to the topically relevant artistic contributions of group members, regardless of medium. If you have anything to share, please send it in. We'll accept most mediums, including (pictures of) paintings, graphic design pieces, songs, videos, poems, etc.
- Articles: We are accepting topically relevant articles from group members. Please note, however, that the newsletter editors reserve the right to modify articles in order to make them suitable for publication. Such modifications may include grammatical corrections and removal of potentially offensive content.
- Quotes & Literary Passages: We are also looking for any topically relevant quotes or literary passages to fill a segment of the newsletter. Anything from a simple sentence spoken by a saint to a paragraph from a book can be accepted.
If you want to submit anything from the above categories, or you simply want to provide feedback or suggestions, please email us at hscstudentsforlife@gmail.com and we will get in touch with you shortly.
