wfn.org | Bishop Speaks for Choice

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.apc.org>]

SEARCH:   abortion, choice, Talbert, NCC, political, Republican,
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Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

Contact:  Joretta Purdue                    407(10-21-31-71){3121}
          Washington, D.C.  (202) 546-8722           Aug. 12, 1996

Bishop Talbert addresses pro-choice
gathering near Republican Convention

                 by United Methodist News Service

     United Methodist Bishop Melvin G. Talbert stated his
"unequivocal" pro-choice views at a "faithful witness for choice!"
convocation in San Diego that preceded a march and rally near the
site of the Republican Convention on its first day.
     The events sponsored by the Religious Coalition for
Reproductive Choice, a group of 40 organizations, together with
other groups will be matched with a comparable demonstration near
the opening of the Democratic Convention in Chicago, Aug. 26.
     At issue is treatment of the abortion issue by the country's
dominant political parties.
     Talbert, president of the National Council of Churches of
Christ (NCC), spoke to several hundred people in Cathedral Church
of St. Paul, an Episcopalian facility. A two-mile march to the
rally site in the San Diego convention "free speech" zone
followed.
     The United Methodist Board of Church and Society and Board of
Global Ministries' Women's Division hold membership in the 
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, which has
headquarters in Washington.
     Other groups supporting the pro-choice events included
Catholics for a Free Choice, Hadassah, National Women's Political
Caucus, Clergy Advisory Board of Planned Parenthood Federation of
America, Unitarian Universalist Association, Voters for Choice,
and other organizations and individuals.
     Talbert declared that people of many faiths were present to
dispel the myth that all religious people in the United States are
against abortion.
     "In reality, there are many of us who believe that choice is
the most logical and the most responsible position any religious
institution can take on this issue," he said.
     Since creation is God's, Talbert said, human beings are
accountable to God for the use and preservation of that creation
including themselves.
     "As people of faith, we are God's moral agents for good in
this world; we are ambassadors for justice, freedom and dignity
for all creation," Talbert said.
     Pro-choice advocates refuse to close the door to the
expression of free will, he added.
     "To be for 'choice' is to be willing to enter into the pain
and the struggle of life in the real world, and, in the face of
that reality, choose," Talbert said. "To be 'pro-choice,' to stand
for choice, is to support those who come down on either side" of
the question.
     Talbert expressed regret that he was not representing the NCC
at this event. The 33 member communions are as divided on abortion
as society is, he explained, so there is no NCC policy on the
issue.
     Because the United Methodist Church does have a policy
statement, he said, he spoke as a United Methodist bishop who
supports the moral stance taken by his church.
     He quoted from the denomination's Social Principles, which
affirms the sanctity of unborn human life and the sacredness of
the life and well-being of the mother. The passage also included
condemnation of abortion as a means of gender selection and an
unwillingness to accept it as a means of birth control.
     Talbert also cited several resolutions passed by the
denomination's legislative body, including ones that object to
coercion in increasing or limiting births, that urge religious
counseling for those who make difficult medical choices, and that
oppose a Constitutional convention to address the abortion issue.
     "Now is the time for us as the faith community to declare to
women, 'we will be there with you in the morning' no matter what
choice you make in the context of your faith," Talbert said.
     "Say 'No!' to coercion and 'Yes!' to 'pro-choice!'" he
declared. "I believe that is the only choice before us."
                              #  #  #

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