GA rejects past actions favoring late-term abortion
John H. Adams, The Layman Online, June 23, 2006
217th General Assembly
Birmingham, Ala. BIRMINGHAM – Three straight General Assemblies – 2002, 2003, 2004 – had sanctioned a woman’s right to abort late-term fetuses until the 217th General Assembly approved a policy this week that supersedes those votes.
During their adjournment-eve business meeting June 21, the commissioners voted to affirm “that the lives of viable unborn babies – those well-developed enough to survive outside the womb if delivered – ought to be preserved and cared for and not aborted.”
The denomination’s 2002 policy, ratified by the commissioners to the next two assemblies, refused to recommend any advice against an abortion practice that the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives voted to ban. The position of the Presbyterian Church (USA) was further to the left than any of the mainline denominations.
The late-term abortion issue came back to the commissioners via presbytery overtures and a close vote, 30-24, by its Health Issues Committee.
The commissioners added a preamble to the committee’s recommendation: “This General Assembly holds this statement as its position on a Christian response to problems that arise late in pregnancies. We find it to be consistent with current General Assembly policy on Problem Pregnancies and Abortion (1992), and [it] supersedes General Assembly statements of 2002 and 2003 on late-term pregnancies and abortion.”
The 1992 policy statement sanctioned abortion, but not as a moral right, and did not deal with late-term pregnancies.
Several commissioners who did not want the denomination to limit a woman’s right to abortion spoke against the word “supersedes.” But those who favored the preamble said the amendment clarified the denomination’s policy and prevented people from choosing up sides on which General Assembly policy was preferred.
In a related issue, the commissioners rejected a proposal to prohibit the denomination from financially supporting organizations, such as the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights, that lobby for late-term abortions.
During floor debate over the new policy, Cynthia Morgan, a medical missionary for 17 years, told the commissioners that their responsibility was to “nurture and protect the lives of women and children.” She said that the “fetus at the point of pregnancy” when a late-term abortion is being considered “is clearly viable. As a church, we have the responsibility to provide clear guidance on this moral issue.”
But Fred Kelly, arguing in favor of women’s choice on late-term pregnancies, said the 2002-04 policy was “based on competent medical and legal advice.” He introduced a motion to eliminate the word “supersedes,” but it failed. Then the commissioners quickly approved the new policy.