Faith A BY RICK HINSHAW


merica’s seething abortion controversy divides some faith communities, as a review of reactions to last year’s over-


turning of Roe v. Wade illustrates. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops


leaders hailed “this historic day” when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed “an unjust law that has resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of preborn children.” The Southern Baptist Convention


(SBC), America’s largest Protestant denomination, also welcomed the deci- sion, which Southwestern Baptist Theo- logical Seminary President Adam Green- way placed “on par with Brown v. Board of Education” in overturning Roe, “a clearly unjust ruling.” The SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President F. Brent Leather- wood said that “more lives are now protect- ed,” but warned many states “have either implemented or are considering some of the most abhorrently permissive pro-abor- tion proposals ever.” The commission’s priorities now


include “advocat(ing) for life both at the federal and state levels,” while taking on “new frontiers such as ‘abortion tourism’” and “the increasing accessibility of the abortion pill.” SBC’s Psalm 139 Project, which provides ultrasound technology and training to pro-life pregnancy centers, will target states considered to be “abor- tion destinations” post-Roe. “Our hope,” Leatherwood told News-


max, “is that all of these eff orts will lead to a place where every life is both respected and protected by law, and families have the help they need to fl ourish. “When we arrive at that moment, it will


mean the ‘right to life’ is fully available to every American — born and preborn alike.”


60 NEWSMAX | APRIL 2023


Churches Still Divided Over Roe v. Wade


Almost one year later, Supreme Court ruling dramatizes splits among religious groups.


But elsewhere, the court’s decision has dramatized already existing splits, for instance, within Methodist and Presbyte- rian denominations. The United Methodist Church (UMC)


and Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) denounced the overturning of Roe. It “denied the sacred worth of women,”


said Bishop Thomas Bickerton, UMC Council of Bishops president, and “creat- ed gender, racial, and economic injustice for all Americans.” The UMC’s general board promised


to ramp up advocacy “for the rights of all people to . . . reproductive and maternal (health)care.” Methodist Mark Tooley, president of


The Institute on Religion and Democra- cy, countered in The Christian Post that such statements were “theologically and ethically vacuous, ignoring 2,000 years of rich ecumenical Christian teaching about the sacredness of all human life.” Presbyterian Church in America


(PCA), the second-largest Presbyterian church body, welcomed the end of Roe. Josh Anderson, pastor of a PCA-affi l-


iated church in Texas, stressed that with pro-life laws already in place in that state, more must be done “to protect, strength- en, and wisely apply these laws in our new situation.” He also called for prayer, openness to adoption, and support for pro-life preg- nancy resource centers. The Episcopal Church and Anglican


Church in North America had polar opposite responses to the Dobbs ruling. In July, the Episcopal Church General Convention reasserted “denominational support for legal abortion at any stage of pregnancy.” Meanwhile, the ACNA, gathered in Washington for the March for Life, reiter-


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100