Ft. Worth, TX (LifeNews.com) -- The United Methodist Church is finally getting some praise from the pro-life community for its recent small steps in promoting a pro-life position on abortion. The Protestant denomination has long come under criticism for its involvement in a pro-abortion coalition for religious groups.

However, in a recent meeting of the United Methodist General Conference, the Church's governing body, pro-life advocates made progress.

The group meets every four years and it overwhelmingly adopted several petitions affirming the sanctity of life during its quadrennial meeting in Fort Worth.

Conference delegates voted for a resolution to "Respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother and the unborn child," and voted to urge parental notification and consent when a teenager is seeking an abortion.

They deleted language from a previous United Methodist statement that had been used to support abortion as a means of back-up birth control. Also, the delegates voted to speak out against the international problem of sex-selection abortions.

The UMC delegates also voted to promote the work of crisis pregnancy centers and to encourage local churches to get involved in supporting them.

And on end-of-life issues, the conference participants affirmed a statement saying the church "rejects euthanasia and pressure upon the dying to end their lives."

Mark Tooley, the director of the UMAction Committee of the Institute on Religion and Democracy told LifeNews.com he's pleased with the small steps to move in a pro-life direction.

"These incremental steps continue a trend from the last several General Conferences towards an increased acknowledgement of the sanctity of all human life," he said.

"The United Methodist Church is slowly moving towards the historic Christian concern for the most vulnerable," he added. "These latest moves continue this positive trend."

Related web sites:
Institute on Religion and Democracy - http://www.TheIRD.org