My daughters loved the “Little House on the Prairie” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Part of what makes these stories so captivating is what it took for pioneer families to survive the brutal elements as they headed west in the late 1800s. 

In fact, in 1900 the infant mortality in the U.S. was at about 10 percent. For every 1,000 babies born, over 100 did not live to their first birthday. Due to incredible medical advances, that rate had plummeted to just point-five percent by 2018.

Before we are tempted to celebrate, however, here’s a tragic caveat. Also in 2018, 1.89 out of every ten reported pregnancies were aborted, according to the CDC.

In other words, the true infant mortality rate today is worse than at the turn of the last century. This isn’t progress. More medical technology cannot address the deadly and dehumanizing worldview that has infected the modern world. Only the idea that every human life bears God’s image will turn these numbers around.