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The Nature and Value of Human Life
By this imposing title is meant a 1981 study paper of the Council on Theology and Culture received by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States. At the end of this paper — here printed in the form it appeared in the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) Minutes — is a brief statement of what a study paper designation specifically meant in that denomination (very close to the former United Presbyterian Church (UPC) understanding).
We post this paper because the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) has been asked to “update” this document, which was much respected in the former PCUS but little known in the former UPC. The analogous UPC study was 1983’s two-part paper, “The Covenant of Life and the Caring Community and Covenant and Creation: Theological Reflections on Contraception and Abortion,” although the UPC also had policy recommendations with their studies adopted by the Assembly.
The wisdom in both denominations was to put abortion in with a spectrum of bio-ethics and health policy issues. Majorities in both former denominations have supported what is summarized as the “choice.” position, as part of the larger framework of reproductive freedom, generally considered a key to women’s equality.
The benefit of “The Nature and Value of Human Life” is that it puts these matters in a broader context while employing two principal principles: do good and do no harm. The reader may see that applying these together is not always easy!
At the time of this posting (August 2007), a drafting team of the ACSWP is working on a new treatment of many of the issues covered in 1981, using new thinking in both the church and medical science. What is envisioned is another study paper, with comparisons invited to this previous one. We hope to look at a draft in October but leave the drafting team alone as it tests ideas and approaches.
The ACSWP invites your feedback on
this issue. |
