Overture 26
Overture 26. On Late-Term Pregnancy—From
the Presbytery of Redstone.
The Presbytery of Redstone
overtures the 217th General Assembly (2006) to declare the following:
We 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. 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. We look to our churches
to provide pastoral and tangible support to women in problem
pregnancies and to surround these families with a community
of care. We affirm adoption as a provision for women who deliver
children they are not able to care for, and ask our churches
to assist in seeking loving, Christian, adoptive families.
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 declare that it supercedes and replaces all other
statements on late-term pregnancies and abortion.
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 the lives of innocent human beings (Prov.
31:8, 9; James 1:27), and forbidden to shed innocent blood (Jer.
7:6), 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)
Our General Assembly has affirmed as policy
(approved in 1992) that “... after human life has begun,
it is to be cherished and protected as a precious gift of God”
(Problem Pregnancies and Abortion, PC(USA), Office of
the General Assembly, 1992, p. 11; see also Minutes,
1992, Part I, p. 369, paragraph 27.102). The assembly also affirmed
that “The strong Christian presumption is that since all
life if precious to God, we are to preserve and protect it”
(Problem Pregnancies and Abortion, p. 11; see also Minutes,
1992, Part I, p. 368, paragraph 27.100).
In addition to the support for the preservation
of life in Scripture, our confessions, and church policy, sound
and common medical practice favors delivery over abortion as
a safer and more humane method of terminating a late-term pregnancy.
Particularly in pregnancies 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. Both mother and baby benefit physically and
spiritually from live birth.
Today, in the United States, there are more
than two million couples waiting to adopt a child. Many of these
waiting couples are willing to adopt babies with medical problems
and other special needs. The church should encourage and undergird
this desire among its own members to minister to the needy and
vulnerable among us.
Since General Assemblies have addressed the
matter of late-term abortion several times and have a statement
that has been so modified that it is unclear in intent, this
new statement is meant to provide the church with a clear moral
and pastoral position.
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