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20-June-1997 
GA97114 
 
             Assembly Actions on Social Justice Issues 
          Assembly Offers Counsel on Late Term  Abortions 
 
                           by Nancy Rodman 
 
 
SYRACUSE--The 209th General Assembly Thursday evening rejected the 
recommendation of the Assembly Committee on Social Justice and Witness and 
approved a minority report to offer a word of counsel to the church and our 
culture that the procedure known as intact dilation and extraction, 
(commonly called "partial birth" abortion) of a baby who could live outside 
the womb is of grave concern and should be considered only if the mother's 
physical life is endangered by the pregnancy. 
    In presenting the minority report, minister commissioner Fred Soberg of 
Pittsburgh Presbytery, said, "This motion by intention does not call for 
any restraint of women's right to choose.  It calls for no legislative 
action.  It is a simple statement of moral counsel....  There are different 
views of when life begins but today is the day they come together in 
defense of the little one about to be born....This is not a pro-life or 
pro-choice issue."  Bruce Taylor, minister commissioner from the Presbytery 
of Southern Kansas and committee vice moderator, responded that "the 
committee is not persuaded that the procedure is never necessary." 
    In the end, the Assembly approved the minority report by a margin of 
309-218. 
    In a related matter, the Assembly declined to direct the moderator to 
appoint a special committee to examine and review the church's current 
policy on abortion and its implementation.  The current policy was approved 
in 1992. 
 
                Assembly Supports Antiracism Training 
 
    The Assembly encouraged all governing bodies to plan for their staffs 
to undergo antiracism training by the year 2005 and instructed the National 
Ministries Division to develop a churchwide strategy for such training to 
be implemented across the church, also by the year 2005. 
    The Assembly also urged all G.A. agencies to assess the potential 
impact of budget allocations and adjustments on racial ethnic 
constituencies and programs and instructed the General Assembly Council 
(GAC) to report through the National Ministries Division to the 210th 
Assembly next year on the implementation of the recommendations on 
antiracism training. 
 
                       Child Exploitation Opposed 
 
    The Assembly, acting on recommendations from the Advocacy Committee for 
Women's Concerns and on Overture 97-73, took a strong stand against the 
exploitation of children, nationally and internationally. 
    It called on government and church agencies to address issues of child 
prostitution and pornography by encouraging the Mission Responsibility 
Through Investment Committee to address these issues, as appropriate, with 
the corporations in which the church has investments, urging the U.S. 
Department of Justice to step up the enforcement of the Child Sex Abuse 
Prevention Act, and urging the World Bank and International Monetary Fund 
to  monitor child prostitution. 
    The Assembly declared November 20, the anniversary of the Convention on 
the Rights of the Child, to be a day of prayer for children involved in 
commercial sexual exploitation.  The Assembly again called for United 
States ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 
    Presbytery resource centers and congregations are encouraged to obtain 
copies of U.S. government publications "By the Seat and Toil of Children, 
Volume 2," "Forced Labor: The Prostitution of Children," and the "Child 
Sexual Abuse Prevention Act of 1994." 
    Responding to Overture 97-73, the Assembly addressed issues of 
responsible tourism, encouraging use of the "Code of Ethics for Tourists," 
and sexual exploitation, particularly of children.  The Assembly instructed 
the stated clerk to urge Congress to close loopholes in the Child Sexual 
Abuse Act of 1994.  Before approval, the motion was amended to delete 
references to the military. 
 
                   Assembly Opposes Gender Inequality 
 
    Recognizing that women and girls face discrimination in all parts of 
the world and in all spheres of their lives, the Assembly encouraged 
Presbyterians to work toward gender equality in schools, churches, 
communities, and families, and called upon the Christian Education program 
area to continue development of gender-sensitive materials. 
    Presbyterians are encouraged to assess the status of girls within their 
families, congregations, schools, and communities, and to work to end 
discrimination and inequality.  Girls are to be encouraged as they 
participate in athletics and work in nontraditional areas such as science, 
math, and computers. 
    By direction of the 208th General Assembly last year, the Christian 
Education program area is to present a plan to next year's Assembly for 
developing gender-sensitive educational and leadership training programs, 
paying particular attention to the needs of girls and racial ethnic youth. 
    The Assembly called for orientation and training for all women and men 
representing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) overseas concerning the 
challenges faced by girls and women in particular geographical areas and 
equipping overseas personnel to monitor and address situations as they 
arise. 
 
              Presbyterians to Combat Women's Homelessness 
 
    Commending the Presbytery of Seattle for bringing the critical issue of 
women's homelessness to the attention of the greater church at this time 
and the Woodland Park Presbyterian Church for their development of an 
innovative homeless ministry which could serve as a model for a church of 
any size, the Assembly urged the church's program areas to produce and 
distribute resources designed to help combat homelessness among women and 
women with children and challenged all Presbyterians to work for the end of 
homelessness. 
    It called upon presbyteries and congregations to promote awareness and 
education about ways to alleviate the homelessness of women and women with 
children and to work cooperatively with other churches, religious groups, 
and charitable or government agencies to provide safe, secure shelter for 
women in times of crisis.  Church members and the Washington Office are 
urged to be advocates for public policies that would eliminate the 
conditions that lead to homelessness. 
 
                 Assembly Calls for Strong Ratings System 
 
    The Assembly called for an effective and comprehensive ratings system 
for movies and television programs that provides content descriptions of 
violence, language, sexual content, and/or mature themes.  It opposes any 
ratings system that, at a minimum, does not provide content descriptions or 
delineate among violence, language, and sexual content. 
    The Assembly reaffirmed actions of previous Assemblies that uphold the 
necessity of a nurturing family and social environment and expressed grave 
concern over the increase in the portrayal of violence, sexual content, and 
profane language on television and in movies.  It called for a return to 
the concept of a family viewing hour when only programs suitable for 
general audiences would be broadcast. 
    The church's Office of Media Services and Communication, the Washington 
Office, the Child Advocacy Project, and the Mission Responsibility Through 
Investment Committee were encouraged to continue to promote media literacy 
in the church and to advocate for public and corporate policies that 
address the issues of the media and violence, sexual content and language. 
 
                    Stated Clerks to Receive Training 
 
    The Assembly requested the Office of the General Assembly to schedule a 
time on the agenda of the next stated clerk's conference for training on 
the issue of professional sexual misconduct and called on all levels of the 
church to be deliberate and pastoral in meeting the needs of persons 
involved in such cases. 
    Stated clerk's training should include consciousness raising, the 
necessity of quick resolution, and assistance in training investigating 
committees.  The Department of Constitutional Services of the Office of the 
General Assembly has provided a workshop on professional sexual misconduct 
at each new clerk's conference since 1992. 
 
                      Day of Conscience Endorsed 
 
    October 4, 1997, will be a Day of Conscience and November-December will 
be a Season of Conscience, by action of the Assembly. The Assembly also 
called for the Workplace Code of Conduct and Principles of Monitoring to 
assure wages above subsistence levels. 
    Observance of the Day and Season of Conscience provides an opportunity 
both for public witness to the need to eliminate sweatshops and for keeping 
faith with the actions of the 208th Assembly which called for increased 
involvement in addressing the problem of sweatshops. 
    Some U.S. corporations have adopted codes of conduct and principles of 
monitoring for their own operations and the White House has become involved 
as a result of growing public witness. 
 
                 Women's Advocacy Programs Approved 
 
    The General Assembly encouraged middle governing bodies to sponsor 
regional women's advocacy consultations and/or training events at least 
once every two years and directed the Women's Ministries program area to 
hold a national advocacy consultation or training event every four years 
before the national elections.  Beginning in 2000, the quadrennial events 
will address issues of justice for women, particularly issues of economic 
justice. 
    The Assembly commended the Women's Ministries program area for 
organizing the October Women's Advocacy Consultation, "Women's Voices: A 
Ministry of Advocacy." 
    National and regional women's advocacy consultations/training events 
were called for by the 197th General Assembly in 1985. 
 
                 Sexual Brokenness Overture Defeated 
 
    An overture that would have called on the church to encourage, promote, 
support, and implement ministries that seek to heal sexual brokenness was 
disapproved by the Assembly. 
 
 
              Assembly Opposes U.S. Flag Burning Amendment 
 
    After defeating an amendment to delete opposition to a flag burning 
amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Assembly reaffirmed the value of 
free speech and of the historic right of citizens to dissent, and declared 
its opposition to any proposed constitutional amendment that would ban flag 
burning.  The stated clerk was instructed to communicate this opposition to 
Congress and the president. 

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