As Americans embark on the 46th Annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., the pro-life movement is reminded of the fortitude required to battle abortion. Several generations have now marched for life since the Roe v. Wade decision — each no doubt wondering if theirs would be the one to see the abolition of abortion.

As Christians and as humans, we have a responsibility to rescue those oppressed by abortion. We’re instructed in Proverbs 24:11 to “rescue those being led away to death.” Every innocent human is made in the image of God and should be safe from violence and injustice.

We know abortion killings occur at a rate of one million per year in the United States alone. That means abortion is the most pressing threat to human life in our lifetime. Rescuing children from abortion is our duty as human beings.

The Urgency of Now

We may try to ignore our responsibility toward victims of abortion because rescuing the preborn human requires sacrifice. Rescue always requires sacrifice. And the human condition since the fall in Genesis involves avoiding discomfort and personal sacrifice. Nevertheless, the urgency of abortion is too important to count the cost.

The events of September 11, 2001, are a historic example of rescue requiring sacrifice. Hundreds of firefighters and first responders rushed toward the Twin Towers with the intention of rescuing those inside. They sacrificed everything, including their very lives, to rescue others.

These men and women knew that rushing into burning, collapsing buildings was not safe. Likewise, those who enlisted in the military in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks knew that they did so at their own peril.

Nearly three thousand children are killed in abortion every single day. These children have done nothing wrong, and they can do nothing to defend themselves from the slaughter of abortion. Do we feel the same urgency those first responders did when those towers were hit? If not, why not?

Amor Omnia Vincit

It’s love that motivates the radical self-sacrifice of rescuers who give all for the sake of the victim. To love is to will the good of the other regardless of the cost to oneself. It’s not some soft sentiment, but the steely determination to secure the well-being of someone other than ourselves that motivates the kind of sacrifice required to be a rescuer.

It’s in the context of Christianity that we fully witness what love is. There, in the Incarnation and Crucifixion of Jesus, do we see love perfectly modeled. Jesus became man knowing that his human body would be ridiculed, tortured, and murdered.

He stooped to human nature and submitted to death on a cross to rescue us. And in so doing, he set the example for His followers. You and I were rescued because God willed our good regardless of the cost to Himself.

From the incarnation and death of God himself, we learn how to love. Love requires an unbridled willingness to sacrifice. To sacrifice ourselves, our comfort, our reputations, our pride, our treasure, and our time. And in 2019, there is no clearer people group in need of physical rescue than the preborn child at risk of abortion.

Lauren Enriquez is Public Relations Manager of the Human Coalition. Founded in 2009, Human Coalition fuses technology, best practices, and tangible help to compassionately serve the unreached, abortion-determined woman. Hear more about this topic on our weekly broadcast, The Human Element.