United Church of Christ, Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterians OK Abortion Funding
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 7, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A collection of pro-abortion religious groups authored a letter today to members of the Senate that essentially places them on record supporting taxpayer funding of abortions. The letter expresses their opposition to the Nelson amendment, released today, to remove abortion funding from the Senate government-run health care bill.
The Episcopal Church, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), United Church of Christ, and United Methodist Church are the four mainline protestant denominations to sign the letter asking lawmakers to oppose the Nelson amendment.
They are joined by the Disciples Justice Action Center, NA’AMAT USA, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, a pro-abortion group, The Religious Institute, and the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
The groups say their position is that there is a "social and moral obligation to ensure access to" abortions "at every stage in an individual’s life."
"Reforming the health care system in a way that guarantees affordable and accessible [abortion] for all is not simply a good idea—it is necessary for the well-being of all people in our nation," the religious groups wrote.
"Unfortunately, the House-passed version of health reform includes language that imposes significant new restrictions on access to abortion services," the letter incorrectly claims.
The groups call stopping taxpayer funding of abortions "an unfortunate contradiction to the basic guiding principle of health care reform" and a violation of the "moral imperative that unites Americans of many faith traditions."
It identifies the Stupak (and Nelson) amendment as the "selective withdrawal of critical health coverage from women" and "a betrayal of the public good."
"The use of this legislation to advance new restrictions on abortion services that surpass those in current law will serve only to derail this important bill," the pro-abortion denominations claim.
"The Senate bill is already abortion neutral," the falsely claim, adding that it "includes compromise language that maintains current law, prohibiting federal funds from being used to pay for abortion services," even though the language does not do that.
Jewish groups also signed on to the pro-abortion letter, including Jewish Women International, the National Council of Jewish Women, and the Union for Reform Judaism.
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