Sanctity of Human Life Week (Jan 18-25, 2009) by Moni

Below is a picture of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Dr. Joseph Bruner, taken August 19, 1999.

The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother's womb. Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She knew of Dr Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.

The editors titled the picture, 'Hand of Hope.' The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The text explaining the picture begins, 'The tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life.'

During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Joseph Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile.

Little Samuel's mother said they 'wept for days' when they saw the picture. She said, 'The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person.’ Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful.

Of course this photograph brings much controversy to the forefront for those who are abortion-minded. For more information about this photograph, please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Armas. For more information about Sanctity of Human Life Week, please see http://www.heartlink.org/beavoice/.

We, as believers, must be clear!

God is the author of all life, which begins at the moment of conception.

Please remember to thank the Lord for life today.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. - Psalm 139:13-14 (NIV)