Activists squared off outside the U.S. Supreme Court during last year's 'March for Life' in Washington. The annual anti-abortion march marks the anniversary of the court's controversial Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973 that legalized abortion. ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES

47 million children have been aborted since Roe v. Wade.

Date published: 1/22/2006

OSEPH STALIN IS credited with the cynical observation that "A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic." And it is true that a million of anything is a hard number to fathom, even if it entails the loss of human life.

Try 3,600--this is an easier number to comprehend. Or, if it helps, think of 150 instead.

Each of these dry numbers represents lost children, but not the kind whose faces you see on milk cartons. They are children lost to abortion.

About 150 abortions are performed each and every hour, almost 3,600 abortions a day, 1.3 million a year. Since the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, more than 47 million defenseless, unborn children have perished from abortion.

Let me tell you about a child who, with a different set of parents, could have been one of these numbers.

Sarah is an adorable 9-year-old. She's friendly, has a head full of strawberry blond hair, and she was Student of the Week recently at school. Her teacher wrote, "Sarah demonstrates the six pillars of character every day. She is honest, kind, and compassionate. She plays by the rules and always perseveres, trying to do her best. Sarah is very enjoyable to have in our class."

Sarah also has Down syndrome, a chromosomal abnormality. And at the age of 20 months, she suffered a stroke from a rare genetic condition called Moyamoya syndrome that left her a quadriplegic. Sarah is also in her second year of remission after being diagnosed with leukemia.

Some believe that the compassionate solution to the "problem" of an unborn child with a disability is abortion. Abortion proponents frequently use "hard cases" like Sarah's to garner sympathy and support for abortion on demand.

Sarah is the expectant parent's worst nightmare--no one would want a child like her, right?

But Sarah's parents do want her, and do love her. She will probably not be with them for very long, so they try to make the most of what few years they will likely have with their precious daughter.

Date published: 1/22/2006