The teen abortion rate drop is the most dramatic
The most recent opinion polls show that nearly 70% of Americans favor legal protection for the unborn. And even better news: the polls are showing that teenagers today are more pro-life than their parents’ generation. The abortion rate is declining faster among adolescents than in the rest of the population. The New York Times (Mar. 31, 2003) recently linked the change to, among other things, the proliferation of abstinence-based sexuality programs in the schools. The article also reported the testimonies of young people who see themselves as survivors of abortion. They take the matter personally.

So, public school programs are helping change the tide even with no significant changes in law.

Our denomination continues to advocate and even pay for unrestricted abortions.

Our medical plan, mandatory for all installed pastors, provides unrestricted abortion coverage.

Last year, two denomination committees brought to the General Assembly a policy statement on late term abortion that the G.A. adopted. That statement leaves virtually no situation in which the life of a viable unborn baby would receive the church’s unambiguous defense.

Our congregations offer little support
But what in many respects is worse than the denominational support for abortion is what one writer calls "the silence of the shepherds." Even pastors who know that abortion is immoral shy away from mentioning it in sermons. They often fear that teaching on the subject would just open up the possibility of disagreement among church members. Some churches have failed to offer ministries to help women make decisions to preserve the lives of their babies. Or to deal with the spiritual effects of an abortion decision.

There is need for the church's witness and ministry
One survey reports that 70 percent of the women having abortions say they believe it is immoral. They made the choice, they say, either because of pressures from family and friends or lack of support from anybody. In one example, a woman said, "I finally told everyone I would have an abortion just to get them off my back."

If we in the church will not take a stand for life, who do we think will? Will the society and the public schools lead us back to protecting unborn babies because we do not have the courage of our own convictions?

Thank God for the shift that is occurring in our country on this issue. Let us pray that the church will find its way into a place of spiritual leadership that will ground the shift in the truth.