I've seen rope lifelines. It makes sense for two reasons,
less weight and ease of installation.

The downside is they can be cut more easily
than wire rope. I'd feel safer with wire rope.
I'd lean towards going a size larger and skipping
the cover. I've never seen a meat hook on a lifeline,
only on halyards and shrouds.

"DSK" wrote
A lot of boats are using UV-protected hi-tech line, spectra or some such,
for lifelines. Make the loops with hog rings (those little metal clips)
and cover them with heat-shrink. Strong, very low stretch, no meat hooks,
easy on the hands. I don't like bare wire lifelines myself.