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<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B>
nrlc@nrlc.org [mailto:nrlc@nrlc.org]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, May 29, 2008 6:47
PM<BR><B>To:</B> akelly@americantarget.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> TN&V -- United
Methodists Continue in Pro-Life Direction <BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
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<P align=left><B><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>Today's News &
Views<BR>May 29, 2008</FONT></B></P>
<P><B><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=4>United Methodist Church
Continues to <BR>Move in a More Pro-Life Direction</FONT><FONT
face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><BR></FONT><I><FONT
face="Trebuchet MS">Incremental But Significant Steps
Taken</FONT></I></B><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2><BR>By John
Lomperis</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>In 1972, America's
second-largest Protestant denomination officially endorsed legalized
abortion, as did other "mainline" American Protestant denominations
around that same time. However, the April 23--May 2 meeting of the
top policymaking body of the United Methodist Church took several
incremental but significant steps to move in a more pro-life
direction. Specifically, the 2008 United Methodist General
Conference decided to:</FONT></P>
<UL>
<LI><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>"Affirm and encourage the
Church to assist the ministry of crisis pregnancy centers and
pregnancy resource centers that compassionately help women find
feasible alternatives to abortion." </FONT>
<LI><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>Delete from a previously
adopted statement the assertion that supporting legalized abortion
was somehow "[i]n continuity with past Christian teaching."
</FONT>
<LI><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>Replace "pro-choice" language
in that same statement about "unacceptable pregnanc[ies]" with the
pro-life assertion that "we are equally bound to respect the
sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother and the unborn
child." </FONT>
<LI><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>Decry the international
problem of gender-selective abortions, while describing abortion
as something that is "violent" and to be opposed when chosen for
"trivial reasons." </FONT>
<LI><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>Support adult "notification
and consent" for minors seeking abortions </FONT>
<LI><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>"Reject euthanasia and
pressure upon the dying to end their lives." </FONT></LI></UL>
<P><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>Between 1988 and this year,
pro-life United Methodists had succeeded in adding<SPAN lang=en-us>
</SPAN>numerous improvements to their denomination's official
statement on abortion, such as opposing abortion chosen for reasons
of birth control or gender selection, opposing partial-birth
abortions, and recognizing the reality of post-abortion stress. Some
have argued that the first of these puts the church in opposition to
most abortions in the U.S., as only a small minority are chosen for
reasons related to rape, incest, or actual, severe physical health
complications for the mother or child. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>However, the denomination's main
position statement still includes a single highly problematic
sentence "support[ing] the legal option of abortion" during
unspecified "tragic conflicts of life with life." This vague wording
has been used by some United Methodist officials to align the
denomination's public witness with the Religious Coalition for
Reproductive Choice (RCRC), whose agenda is a no-compromise
"abortion rights" utopia.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>The biggest pro-life
disappointment at this General Conference was the affirmation of the
denomination's continued affiliation with the RCRC, which stridently
denounces any restriction on abortion. However the margin was just
32 votes out of 800 cast.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>Several factors worked in RCRC's
favor. RCRC launched a very heavy and seemingly unprecedented effort
to lobby delegates before and during the conference. The decision on
RCRC was scheduled at a time when an estimated 100+ delegates from
the U.S.-based denomination's growing African regions (who tend to
be more pro-life than their American counterparts) were not present
to vote. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>Delegates had also been treated
to several misleading pro-RCRC statements before they voted, such as
a distributed RCRC flyer's claim that the group had never "supported
the use of partial-birth abortion." (As a matter of fact, RCRC has
for years consistently lobbied against any attempt to limit this
barbaric practice opposed by United Methodism's "Social
Principles"). At one point a liberal bishop took the very unusual
step of directly testifying to delegates in favor of RCRC.
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>Nevertheless, the vote on RCRC
was closer than at any previous United Methodist General Conference.
By the end of the General Conference, abortion opponents had gained
significant ground without losing anything that they already had.
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>While the pace has been much
more gradual than many of us would like to see, the trend of the
last 20 years for the United Methodist Church's public witness on
abortion has been in a clearly pro-life direction. If pro-life
United Methodists continue to stay within their denomination and
build on previous victories, it should only be a matter of time
before United Methodism more wholeheartedly joins the ecumenical
effort to defend vulnerable human life. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>It is worth remembering that
there is recent precedent for a denomination becoming pro-life. In
this last generation, we have seen America's largest Protestant
denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, progress from having
an official position of strong support for legalized abortion--with
prominent denominational officials lobbying against abortion
restrictions--to today being an indispensable bulwark of the
pro-life movement. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>Please send your thoughts and
comments to <A
href="mailto:daveandrusko@hotmail.com">daveandrusko@hotmail.com</A>.<SPAN
lang=en-us> </SPAN></FONT></P>
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