|TOP|Debates over abortion will likely ensue at the upcoming Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) general Assembly in June.

According to the Presbyterian News Service, three overtures challenging the current denominational policy on abortion is headed for the June 15-22 Assembly in Birmingham, Ala., and may make the church decidedly more pro-life.

Current policy is pro-choice, though the church opposes abortion as a means of birth control and gender selection and says that partial-birth abortion is a “matter of grave moral concern.” The policy also holds that abortion should be the choice of last resort in problem pregnancies, and affirms adoption as a preferable alternative in cases of unwanted children.

The church body did not always take the progressive stance on the issue, and it wasn’t until 1983 – ten years after the landmark Roe v. Wade legalised abortion – that the denomination passed a policy supporting a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy with virtually no reservations.

|AD|This year’s overtures do not seek to overturn the 1983 policy. Instead, it seeks restrictions that would limit the process to only some specific situations.

A proposed change from the Redstone Presbytery, for example, asks the Assembly to “affirm that the lives of viable unborn babies – those well-developed enough to survive outside of the womb if delivered – ought to be preserved and cared for and not aborted.”

The overture goes on to say that “In cases where problems of life or health of the mother arise in a pregnancy, the church supports efforts to protect the life and health of both the mother and the baby. When late term pregnancies must be terminated, we urge decisions intended to deliver the baby alive.”

A separate overture from the Mississippi Presbytery opposes abortion except to save the life of the mother or in cases of incest or rape “where there is a finding by a competent, licensed physician that carrying the unborn child to term would, more likely than not, result in serious, long-lasting and debilitating mental and emotional distress of the mother,” according to PNS.

The Beaver-Butler Presbytery meanwhile submitted an unusual overture advising the General Assembly to “cease funding of any group that supports or advocates either for or against abortion,” leaving Presbyterians to make those decisions locally.






Elaine Spencer
Christian Today Correspondent