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GA06131
Commissioners tackle four overtures related to abortion Affirms lives of unborn babies
by Mike Ferguson
BIRMINGHAM, June 21 * By better than a 3-to-1 margin, General Assembly commissioners on Wednesday night approved an overture from the Health Issues committee on late-term pregnancies that affirms the lives of viable unborn babies.
"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," the overture from the Presbytery of Redstone states.
"If a baby can live outside the womb, she should live," said the Rev. Donna Marsh of National Capital Presbytery, a committee member. Marsh inserted an amendment, which the Assembly approved, adding language to the overture from the 2003 General Assembly that states that "for any choice, we are accountable to God; however, even when we err, God offers to forgive us."
But the Rev. Anne Conroy of New York City Presbytery said the proposal "will only serve to make those who do have to make (a decision to end a late-term pregnancy) feel shamed and judged. I think it's a huge mistake."
Elder Carla Shafer of North Puget Sound Presbytery also argued against the proposal, asserting that God told Abraham that Sarah would bear a child, and an angel told Mary she should keep her child. "God is saying we have a choice, and we're asking the PC(USA) to affirm that choice," she said.
As the committee recommended, the Assembly turned down an overture from Beaver Butler Presbytery that would have ceased funding for any group that advocates either for or against abortion.
"The committee felt the language was confusing and misleading in regard to our use of funds," said Health Issues committee Moderator Carol Schneider of The James Presbytery.
A third abortion overture, this one recommending that presbyteries replicate a study and discernment process initiated by the Presbytery of Mississippi, by which it "stands clearly against the practice of abortion," was approved. The process replaces the overture that would have had the church opposing abortion with a few exceptions.
A fourth, on approving a monitoring report on the implementation of problem pregnancies and abortion policies, won approval. "It is the desire of the committee that policies of the church concerning problem pregnancies and abortion be more clearly communicated to the public and to our church members," Schneider said.
"Living into the Body of Christ: Towards Full Inclusion of People with Disabilities" passed with only nine dissenting votes. "I've had a disability since birth," said Youth Advisory Delegate Miguel Carlin of Cincinnati Presbytery. "I hope (those at) General Assembly will go back to their congregations and talk about the issues so that the committee's work is not in vain."
Four consent items gained the Assembly's approval: on addressing teen suicide and self-injury, extending for two years a study on end-of-life issues, affirming Mission Responsibility through Investment (MRTI) efforts to work with drug companies to get life-saving medicine to treat diseases of poverty, and a commissioners' resolution on supporting an effort to close the Chef Menteur landfill in New Orleans.
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