Sanctity of life
idea that life is sacred
In religion and ethics, the sanctity of life, sometimes described as the inviolability of life, is a principle of implied protection regarding aspects of sentient life that are said to be holy, sacred, or otherwise of such value that they are not to be violated. This can be applied to humans, animals or (in the practice of Ahimsa) even micro-organisms. Sanctity of life sits at the centre of debate over abortion and euthanasia.
In Christianity
The phrase sanctity of life refers to the idea that humans are sacred, holy, and precious, since each human life ultimately belongs to God. Although the phrase was used primarily in the 19th century in Protestant discourse, since World War II the phrase has been used in Catholic moral theology and, following Roe v. Wade, Evangelical Christian moral rhetoric.
The absolute sanctity of life, often contrasted with valuing the quality of life, is the basis of all Catholic teaching about the fifth commandment in the Ten Commandments.
In Judaism
Pikuach nefesh allows the Jewish person to override all other Jewish laws and practices in order to preserve human life. It places the conservation of humanity and the survival of a human being above every other possible thing. It applies to both saving the lives of Jews and non-Jews.
The public source identifies “Sanctity of life” as idea that life is sacred. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Sanctity, life and idea.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 11, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7415681. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sanctity of life” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.