(Successful Marriages and Families Proclamation Principles and Research Perspectives, Hawkins, Dollahite, Draper (2012). Ch. 27 Defending the Sanctity of Human Life, Hallen.

From conception to resurrection, mortal life is a gift from God. Elder Russell M. Nelson explains why we should have respect for the gift of life. "As sons and daughters of God, we cherish life as a gift from him...Life comes from life. It is a gift from our Heavenly Father, It is eternal, as he is eternal. Innocent life is not sent by him to be destroyed! This doctrine is not of me, but is that of the living God and of his divine Son."

Each one of us is sacred because each of us reflects the divine image of the Creator. "Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16). Our bodies are temples and belong to the Lord.

The value of a human life and the power to partner with God to create life is of great importance to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The proclamation states “that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.” This sacred partnership between God, man and woman, allows men and women to create life and become parents, this blessing brings the greatest of responsibilities, commitment and obligations.

From the very beginning, Adam and Eve were commanded “to multiply and replenish the earth”. One of the purposes of marriage between a man and woman, is to bring forth new life. We have a great obligation and responsibility to the Lord to protect these sacred powers of pro-creation and only use them within the sacred bonds of marriage. President Faust has stated, “All members of this Church seeking eternal joy and peace are expected to and will wish to come to the marriage altar free from sexual transgressions-chaste and pure. Any who fail to do so may find that they have cheated themselves of their own self-respect, dignity, and much of the great joy they seek in marriage. Because of the special inner peace, strength, and happiness it brings, chastity, as the law of God, is and always has been really “in”, and un-chastity is and always has been really “out”. The Sanctity of Life

In our world today, we see an increasing amount of dis-respect towards the value of a human life and the sacred procreative powers. It is not uncommon for men and woman to engage in pre-marital sex. Abortions are common. President Kimball has said, “This is one of the most despicable of all sins – to destroy an unborn child to save one from embarrassment or to save one’s face or comfort.”  Our Heavenly Father has given us these sacred powers to pro-create and along with that He has given us free-agency. We each have the responsibility to use our bodies for the purpose for which they were created. As members of the Church, we believe every human life is precious and we are accountable to God when we use these powers to create life. President Faust as said, “One of the most evil myths of our day is that a woman who has joined hands with God in creation can destroy that creation because she claims the right to control her own body. Since the life within her is not her own, how can she justify its termination and deflect that life from an earth which it may never inherit?”

In 1997 the Church issued the following statement:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints declares the sanctity of human life. We deplore the practice of partial-birth abortion which destroys innocent life, and we condemn and oppose it as one of the most revolting and sinful practices of our day. It is abhorrent to God and is fundamentally contrary to his injunction, "Thou shalt not kill...nor do anything like unto it." (D&C 59:6)

The Savior of the world has said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these…ye have done it unto me.” (Matt 25:40) As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe every child is a “heritage of the Lord” and each is precious in the eyes of God. We have the greatest of responsibility to protect the sacred powers of pro-creation. These powers should only be used within the bonds of marriage, where children will have the blessings of a loving mother and father to provide for their physical and spiritual needs. The best way to preserve the sanctity of life is to promote sexual chastity before marriage and marital fidelity after marriage.