Over the past year, several states have passed bills that place extreme restrictions on a woman’s legal ability to obtain an abortion. Many of these bills restrict access to safe reproductive health care as well. These laws are in opposition to the historic Roe V. Wade Supreme Court decision which confirmed a woman’s constitutional right to choose whether or not to terminate during the early months of her pregnancy. This decision was pivotal in advancing women’s reproductive rights and exemplified reproductive justice for the first time in our nation’s history. Women have a right to bodily autonomy and unrestricted access to comprehensive health care. These recent bills pose a direct threat to those rights.
The 182nd General Assembly of 1970 affirmed that “the artificial or induced termination of a pregnancy is a matter of careful ethical decision of the patient … and therefore should not be restricted by law.”[1] The church recognizes that life is precious to God, and we should preserve and protect it. The church also supports a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices and have full access to quality reproductive healthcare. [2]
When a woman faces the difficult decision of whether to terminate a pregnancy, the issue is deeply personal and may not fit neatly into medical or legal guidelines.[3] It is not the position of the church or state to subvert that woman’s right to make moral decisions about her own body. God alone is Lord of conscience and has endowed all humans with the moral agency to make choices.[4]
[1] Minutes of the 182nd General Assembly (1970) p. 891
[2] Statement on Late-Term Problem Pregnancies by the 217th General Assembly (2006)
[3] Minutes of the 217th General Assembly (2006) p. 905
[4] Statement on Late-Term Problem Pregnancies by the 217th General Assembly (2006)