Help us celebrate Sanctity of Human Life Day on Sunday January 17. National Sanctity of Human Life Day is celebrated on January 17, 2016. National Sanctity of Human Life Day is an observance declared by several U.S. Presidents who opposed abortion. President Ronald Reagan designated January 22, 1984 as the first National Sanctity of Human Life Day. The date was chosen to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case that first recognized the constitutionally-protected status of abortion in the United States.