by Camille Cisneros, Affiliate Grant Specialist

October is Respect Life Month – a time set aside to celebrate the incredible gift of human life and to reflect on what it means to protect and cherish that gift, especially when it is most vulnerable.

For Catholics, Respect Life Month has been part of the Church’s rhythm for decades. The tradition began as a response to the changing cultural landscape surrounding human life in America. In 1972, the U.S. Catholic bishops launched the Respect Life Program, and in 1973 they established October as Respect Life Month, following the Roe v. Wade decision earlier that year. The first Sunday of October in 1973 became Respect Life Sunday, and what began as a distinctly Catholic observance has become an invitation for all to reflect more deeply on the beauty and dignity of human life year after year.

While Respect Life Month has come to encompass every stage of human life, there is something especially important about its roots in remembering the preborn.

Even when we’ve heard a passage of Scripture countless times, the Holy Spirit can reveal something new each time we return to it, deepen our understanding, or speak to us in a new way. Perhaps this October, we can return to these familiar words with an open heart:

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”-Psalm 139:13

The child in the womb is already known and loved by God. Their dignity is not something that develops alongside their abilities or depends on whether others recognize it. It is a gift rooted in the One whose image they bear.

During Respect Life Month, the invitation for us is to consider what that truth asks of the way we see and serve others. If dignity is not earned through independence, productivity, health, or capability, then our commitment to human life must extend beyond those who can speak for themselves or easily make their needs known.

The preborn child reminds us that love begins with recognizing the worth of a person before they can offer anything in return.

And respecting the preborn doesn't mean forgetting the mother.

In fact, loving life means loving mothers, too. It means creating communities where a woman facing an unexpected pregnancy isn't left to choose between her child and her own future. It means offering friendship instead of judgment, practical help instead of empty promises, and genuine support when circumstances feel overwhelming.

Living Respect Life Month

So, what might it look like to observe Respect Life Month beyond recognizing it on the calendar or seeing a sign outside your church every October?

For those serving on the front lines of pregnancy help, this month is an opportunity to pause, renew our commitment, and ask where we can go deeper. Take time to listen to your clients and your staff. Look beyond the numbers and notice the needs that may not fit neatly into a program or statistic. Consider where your organization can strengthen the way it welcomes, serves, and walks alongside women and families—not only through a pregnancy decision, but through everything that comes afterward.

And then, do something with what you see. Make the phone call. Have the conversation. Meet the need. Strengthen the partnership. Equip your staff. Invite your church and community to step more fully into the work. A culture of life is not built by words alone, but through the daily choices to welcome, serve, protect, and accompany the people God places in our care.

This is the work of pregnancy help, and Respect Life Month gives us a reason to pause and remember why it matters. Every appointment, phone call, ultrasound, parenting class, material resource, follow-up conversation, and unseen act of faithfulness is an opportunity to make the dignity of a mother and her child tangible.

So this October, don't simply mark Respect Life Month on your calendar. Let it renew the way you see the people you serve, strengthen the way you serve them, and deepen your commitment to building a culture where every life is cherished.