What Jeremiah is saying here is that human life begins, in Gods eyes, from conception and that human life should be respected and sanctified from that point.
A similar line is taken in Psalm 139:
“For it was you who created my being, knit me together in my mothers womb, I thank you for the wonder of my being, for the wonders of all creation” (Psalm 139)
Genesis 2:7 tell us that, "God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and he became a living being." Although man’s physical body was made from the dust of the ground, (and because of the fall will return to the dust) our soul or spirit is God-breathed. This soul, therefore, is not of this world and will one day leave its earthly, mortal dwelling (body) and return to God. Although the human body came from dust, the fact that it contains the essence of God, breathed into each person, makes it holy. Genesis also tells us that God made us in his “image and likeness” which emphasises that our human body is sacred and holy because it shares in the divine life.
Secondly, the New Testament example of Jesus encourages us to follow in his footsteps. He, who spoke and acted strongly and compassionately in favour of the most despised and vulnerable persons in society. Jesus touched lepers, spoke with prostitutes, and showed special mercy and tenderness to the sick, the poor, and children. In the gospels, Jesus protected human life on many occasions. We see these when he healed Blind Bartimaeus and the paralysed man. We also see Jesus’ care for human life when he raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead.
These examples from Marks gospel show that Jesus himself believed that human life was sacred. Who better to follow in the footsteps of than Jesus Christ?
In the Old Testament, God said in the fifth commandment: “Thou shall not kill” and we find, thirdly, that the Catechism of the Catholic church, it elaborates on this:
“Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creation of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end.”
This is fairly self-explanatory. It says how as God created man in his own image, if you destroy a human being, you destroy a part of God.
