Resolution 78–02: Abortion and the Church

With almost 55 million lives of the preborn taken since Roe v. Wade, the Church must rise up against the abortion holocaust. The Presbyterian Church USA had opportunity at its recent General Assembly to address the abortion issue, but even a motion to ask its members to reflect, for two years, on the plight of unwanted children, both the born and preborn was defeated by a vote of 465–133. The measure, brought before the General Assembly members by the Presbytery of South Alabama, was spurred by the murder trial of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, as well as by abortion clinic employees going public about unsafe and allegedly illegal practices that led to the temporary closure of a Delaware Planned Parenthood facility, among others. Included in the motion was a statement denouncing infanticide and calling for prayer for infants born alive after a failed abortion.

The 78th General Synod of the Bible Presbyterian Church, meeting in Olympia, Washington, from July 31 to August 5, 2014, calls upon Christians to work for the restoration of the right to life for the preborn and to support ministries that are providing alternatives to abortion.