There is a pro-life wave sweeping through conservative state legislatures from Kentucky to Texas and from Georgia to North Dakota. Pro-life advocates in multiple states are pushing for a ban on all abortions after a baby’s heartbeat is detected. These “heartbeat bills” would ban abortions beginning at approximately the sixth week of pregnancy.

States that have passed their own version of the heartbeat bill include Kentucky, Georgia, Louisiana, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, and Mississippi. When Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant was asked about those who opposed the bill and were likely to challenge it in court, Bryant said, “If they do not believe in the sanctity of life, these that are in organizations like Planned Parenthood, we will have to fight that fight. But it is worth it.”

To that, I say a hearty amen! Saving the lives of future generations of South Carolinians is worth it! David expressed the wonder of God’s gift of life, writing, “For you formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works and my soul knows it very well” (Psalm 139:13-14, ESV). The Hebrew word for the phrase “fearfully made” is yare. It means we are created in reverence by a Holy God who loves us and gives our lives purpose and meaning. We are fearfully made in that we have been given the capacity to love and to give glory and honor to our Creator.

David was a king, not a doctor. He had no knowledge of microbiology. He couldn’t possibly have contemplated the wonder that every living creature is made up of microscopic cells so small that the letter “o” on a page can contain 30 to 40 thousand of them. He didn’t know each individual cell contains over 100 trillion atoms and operates on a fixed timetable of when and how to grow and divide. He didn’t know about the miracle of the circulatory system, or how the human brain is capable of handling billions of bits of information per second. And yet, by the witness of the Holy Spirit he could say, “my soul knows it very well.” When we consider the scope of today’s technology, how much more should we be able to say that we are fearfully and wonderfully made?

Part of that wonder is that the human heartbeat can be detected as early as six weeks. The power of a human heartbeat is expressed every time a mother hears her unborn baby’s heart on a monitor. It is expressed every time a child lays their head on their mother’s chest and is comforted by the sound of her beating heart. In medical emergency situations, the question is always, “Can you feel a pulse?” or “Can you hear a heartbeat?” When families gather around the bed of a loved one as they approach eternity, their eyes — and often their ears — are fixed on that one unmistakable, undebatable symbol of life: the heartbeat. The heartbeat is the sound that ends all debate about the presence of life.

It’s time for South Carolina to catch the heartbeat wave! South Carolina’s Heartbeat Bill (HB3020) passed the House last year and has already cleared two important hurdles in the Senate. We are closer than we have ever been to passing the most pro-life bill in South Carolina history!

What do we need to do? First, call your state Senator and ask them to do three things:

• Push to set the Heartbeat bill for special order.
• Ask them to vote to end debate when the bill reaches the Senate floor.
• Ask them to vote in favor of the bill.

Next, come to Columbia for the Proudly Pro-Life Rally (https://www.sclife.org) on the Statehouse steps on Saturday, Jan. 11, and then come back to the Statehouse on Wednesday, Jan. 15, for the Heartbeat SC Rally (https://heartbeatsc.com). We need to show up and stand up for life so our legislators will have no doubt where South Carolina stands on protecting the lives of the unborn. It’s time for South Carolina to catch the wave — the heartbeat wave of life!

— Tony Beam is senior director of Church and Community Engagement for North Greenville University’s Tim Brashier Campus.