Overture 04-30. On Clarity of Late Term Pregnancy—From the Presbytery of Beaver-Butler.

The 216th General Assembly (2004) does the following:

1. Urges all members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to affirm in their ministries the protection of babies in the womb who are viable¾that is, well-developed enough to survive outside the womb. In cases where problems of life or health of the mother arise late in a pregnancy, we urge our members to support the live delivery of the baby in the interest of protecting the life and health of both the mother and the baby.

2. Urges our members to provide pastoral and tangible support to women in problem pregnancies, seeking ways that the church can intervene to mitigate the problems in a pregnancy. We affirm adoption as a provision for women who deliver children they are not able to care for, and ask our members to assist in seeking loving, adoptive families with the household of faith.

Rationale

The church’s support for the protection of human life is based on the biblical teaching that human beings are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27), that we are charged to protect lives of innocent human beings (Prov. 31:8, 9; Jas. 1:27), and forbidden to shed innocent blood (Jer. 7:5) and that God expects us as followers of Christ to minister to those who are needy as if we were serving our Savior himself (Matt. 25:40). Our confessions affirm this teaching of Scripture (The Book of Confessions, Westminster Larger Catechism, 7.244-.246).

The Scripture, our confessions, and church policy also support the effort to avoid death as an outcome in situations of need, including abortion, and to seek ways to affirm and protect the lives of human beings. In pregnancies, particularly where babies could live if delivered live, the church is called to speak and act in ways that protect the lives and health of the unborn as well as their mothers.