Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS
Winter 2004

The ban became law in early Nov. 2003. At least three abortion rights groups immediately filed suit in federal courts. One suit was filed by The Center for Reproductive Rights, a law firm in New York City, on behalf of LeRoy Carhart. Carhart performs partial-birth abortions in Omaha.

Judges in various locations in the U.S. responded with temporary injunctions. The first judicial hearings are scheduled for March of 2004.

Although most denominations oppose partial-birth abortions, the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly, in 2002, adopted a statement approving of late term abortions, including partial-birth abortion. The medical benefits plan of the PC(USA) covers unrestricted abortion, including partial-birth abortion. The plan, including its abortion coverage, is funded by church members’ tithes and offerings.

The Washington Office of the PC(USA) opposed the ban publicly and supports The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) which "applauds lawsuits to stop the ban."

At last year’s General Assembly, a physician member of a PC(USA) church in Denver, presented a petition signed by nearly 200 other physician members of the denomination, some of them medical missionaries. The petition said, "with modern medicine, abortion of a fetus who is able to live outside the womb is never needed to preserve the life or health (including future reproductive capability) of the mother."

The physicians pointed out in their petition that when problems arise late in pregnancy the pregnancy may be terminated by other means than abortion, allowing live birth of the baby as well as safety of the mother.

Presbyterian physicians are not alone in their judgment. A number of physician organizations agree and have publicly stated their support for the ban. In June, Dr. Jane Orient of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons wrote a letter to a congressional subcommittee, noting that partial-birth abortion "has no medical indications." Dr. Orient said that if a pregnant woman was suffering from a complication such as toxemia, her doctor could either perform a Caesarian section or induce labor. "The only purpose of the partial-birth abortion," she wrote, "is to assure that the end of the pregnancy is accompanied by the end of the life of a child about to be born."

Dr. Orient told the committee that partial-birth abortion is not a safe procedure, since it "carries the risk of maternal injury or death, as by uterine rupture or laceration and hemorrhage."

The current statement of the General Assembly approving late term abortion was recommended to the body by the Advisory Committee on Litigation and the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy. Several presbyteries, representing the concerns of local churches, have used the overture process not only to register their objections but also to seek G.A. action to change the statement.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) is in serious error on late term abortion, both in its facts and its morality. Churches interested in sending an overture to correct the error can contact PPL for assistance with the process.