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ABORTION & CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE

We will be subjected to many political commercials and ads urging us to vote one way or the other on this issue in November. What is the current law? (It is not the same as the original Roe vs. Wade.) What does the Bible say? What has been the view and practice of the Church historically? What does our Evangelical Lutheran Church state officially? How do our concerns influence this issue in the currently polarized situation?

If you would like to get together to discuss this, please contact the church office. Suggest possible times.

A STATEMENT OF JUDGMENT AND CONVICTION (1980)

(A resolution adopted by the Tenth General Convention of The American Lutheran Church "as a statement of judgment and conviction," which "expresses its corporate voice as its contribution to a public debate on that issue" of abortion. Ballot vote tally: Yes 609 --65 per cent--; No 323; Abstain 11.)

Resolved, That The American Lutheran Church

a. affirms that human life from conception, created in the image of God, is always sacred;

b. understands that an induced abortion ends a unique human life;

c. advocates responsible exercise of sexual and procreative acts so as to prevent the temptation to turn to abortion;

d. deplores the alarming increase of induced abortions since the 1973 Supreme Court decision and views this as an irresponsible abuse of God's gift of life and a sign of the sinfulness of humanity and the brokenness of our present social order;

e. acknowledges that there may be circumstances when, all pertinent factors responsibly considered, an induced abortion may be a tragic option;

f. rejects the practice in which abortion is used for personally convenient or selfish reasons;

g. recognizes that guilt is a common consequence of abortion and applies to all involved--fathers, mothers, doctors, counselors, and the society in which abortion is so readily tolerated.

h. believes that because abortion has not only legal and medical, but also theological, ethical, moral, psychological, economic, and social implications, it is therefore too important a decision to be left solely to one person;

i. regards civil law as a significant factor in shaping the judgments of citizens concerning that which is moral or immoral, good or evil, in the social order; this church therefore deplores the absence of any legal protection for human life from the time of conception to birth;

j. urges those dealing with problem pregnancies to avail themselves of competent Christian guidance to help them explore the entire issue, including long-range effects and options other than abortion;

k. declares that life is not only under sin but also under grace and urges pastors, medical personnel, and parishioners to exercise their priestly and healing role under Christ.

A SOCIAL STATEMENT ON: ABORTION (1991)

(This social teaching statement was adopted by a more than two-thirds majority vote at the second biennial Church wide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.)

(Excerpts:)

The position of this church is that government has a legitimate role in regulating abortion.

In the case of abortion, public policy has a double challenge. One is to be effective in protecting prenatal life The other is to protect the dignity of women and their freedom to make responsible decisions in difficult situations.

Laws should be enacted and enforced justly for the preservation and enhancement of life, and should avoid unduly encumbering or endangering the lives of women.

Because of our conviction that both the life of the woman and the life in her womb must be respected by law, this church opposes:

  • the total lack of regulation of abortion;
  • legislation that would outlaw abortion in all circumstances;
  • laws that prevent access to information about all options

available to women faced with unintended pregnancies;
  • laws that deny access to safe and affordable services for

morally justifiable abortions;
  • mandatory or coerced abortion or sterilization;
  • laws that prevent couples from practicing contraception;
  • laws that are primarily intended to harass those contemplating

or deciding for an abortion.

The position of this church is that, in cases where the life of the mother is threatened, where pregnancy results from rape or incest, or where the embryo or fetus has lethal abnormalities incompatible with life, abortion prior to viability should not be prohibited by law or by lack of public funding of abortions for low income women. On the other hand, this church supports legislation that prohibits abortions that are performed after the fetus is determined to be viable, except when the mother's life is threatened or when lethal abnormalities indicate the prospective newborn will die very soon.

Beyond these situations, this church neither supports nor opposes laws prohibiting abortion.

(Social teaching statements authority is persuasive, not coercive. An addendum summarizes dissenting points of view.)

Copies of the complete texts of both these documents are available in the church office.

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