A small group of North Carolina pastors criticized state lawmakers for trying to protect unborn babies from abortion during a rally Friday in the state Capitol.
According to the Religion News Service, the pastors, who profess to be Christians, asserted that God gives women the “freedom” to make their own decisions about aborting their unborn babies. One even wore a pink pastor’s stole with the name and logo of the billion-dollar abortion chain Planned Parenthood.
“Religious leaders know what is at stake for a woman faced with an unexpected pregnancy,” said the Rev. Jennifer Copeland, executive director of the North Carolina Council of Churches, according to the report. “God’s primary directive for God’s people has always been about all of us taking care of each one of us but allowing every one of us the freedom to make our own decisions.”
But the bill that Copeland’s group opposes, the Care for Women, Children and Families Act, does take care of people. It protects unborn babies from abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy and includes $160 million in aid for parents and children in need throughout North Carolina.
State lawmakers passed the pro-life bill by a strong majority earlier this month, but Gov. Roy Cooper, a pro-abortion Democrat, vetoed it Saturday. The legislature appears to have enough votes to override Cooper’s veto, but pro-abortion activists are putting intense pressure on lawmakers to change their votes.
Currently, abortions are legal for any reason up to 20 weeks in North Carolina.
Christianity teaches that every human life is valuable from conception to natural death because he or she is created in God’s image. However, some church leaders have strayed from the truth and support killing unborn babies.
ACTION ALERT: Contact members of the North Carolina House and Senate to urge them to override Cooper’s veto of the pro-life bill.
Approximately 12 attended the pro-abortion rally Friday, including Copeland and the Rev. William J. Barber II of Poor People’s Campaign and Repairers of the Breach, RNS reports. The speakers insisted that Christians can and should support abortions, and claimed lawmakers focus too much on the issue and not enough on helping the poor and ending gun violence.
“Please don’t quote the Bible to tell me you can make your faith the law of the land, because I read the Book, and it is clear about what we must demand of political leaders in the public square,” Barber said. “Jesus says to nations, you really want to be about my word? When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink.”
But the bill does help people in need, born and unborn – something the pastors and the RNS article failed to mention. Along with banning elective abortions after 12 weeks, it also provides massive funding for health care, child care, foster care, education and more.
According to SBA Pro-Life America, the bill includes:
- $75 million to expand access to childcare.
- Nearly $59 million (not including federal matching funds) for foster care, kinship care and children’s homes.
- $20 million for maternity and paternity leave for teachers and state employees.
- Over $16 million (including federal matching funds) to reduce infant and maternal mortality.
- $3 million to help mothers and fathers complete community college.
The bill protects unborn babies from abortion after 12 weeks when they have fingers and toes, beating hearts and brain waves. On ultrasounds at this stage, parents sometimes see their babies hiccuping or sucking their thumbs.
Other parts of the pro-life bill ban mail-order abortion drugs, require abortion facilities to provide informed consent, ban discriminatory sex-selection abortions and require abortion facilities to follow the same health and safety regulations as other ambulatory surgical centers.
Exceptions would be allowed in cases of rape, incest or fetal abnormality, and the bill keeps in place exceptions under current law that protect the mother’s life.
The bill is expected to save thousands of babies. Based on the most recent Centers for Disease Control data, protecting unborn babies after 12 weeks could potentially save 3,000 babies from abortions every year, not including reducing abortion tourism from other states.
Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of North Carolina voters support protecting unborn babies by at least 12 weeks, according to a poll by Differentiator Data. Only 22 percent agree with allowing abortion up until birth, the position held by Gov. Roy Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein.
ACTION ALERT: Contact members of the North Carolina House and Senate to urge them to override Cooper’s veto of the pro-life bill.