The United Methodist General Board of Church and Society has withdrawn its support from the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), and has removed itself as a signatory to the controversial “Interfaith Call to Action on Reproductive Health” — an “open letter” to President-Elect Barack Obama calling for expanded access to “comprehensive sex education, abortion services and contraceptive information and options.”
MethodistThinker.com reported in mid-November that GBCS was urging Mr. Obama to push for passage of FOCA.
The legislation, which Mr. Obama has promised to sign, would establish “a fundamental right” to an abortion and abolish virtually every existing state and federal limitation on the practice, including parental consent and notification laws for minors.
Now, Linda Bales, director of the Louise and Hugh Moore Population Project for GBCS, says the board has changed its position.
After further examination of the ramifications of this bill and considering the most recent statement on abortion approved at our 2008 General Conference, the legislative arm of our denomination, we have withdrawn our support of this bill due to language added by the General Conference….
[O]ur Social Principle on abortion [in the United Methodist Book of Discipline] now contains a statement supporting parental, guardian or trusted adult notification in cases of minors seeking abortions. Several states have notification laws which would be overturned if FOCA was passed.
Last April, the 2008 United Methodist General Conference passed legislation acknowledging “the sanctity of unborn human life” and noting that United Methodist are bound to “respect the sacredness of life and well-being of [both] the mother and the unborn child.”
Further, the Conference “support[ed] parental, guardian, or other responsible adult notification and consent before abortions can be performed on girls who have not yet reached the age of legal adulthood.”
As in previous years, the General Conference stated that the United Methodist Church “cannot affirm abortion as an acceptable means of birth control” (¶161, The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 2008).
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I’m happy to see the GBCS (finally) basing its actions on the clear intent of General Conference decisions rather than the political opinions of the staff. I hope the trend continues.
This is HUGE news! Thanks for reporting this.
[...] 3, 2009 by Jack Burden — Methodist Thinker reports that the General Board of Church and Society has withdrawn its support for the Freedom of Choice [...]
I’m saddened by this. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world and scared teens seeking medical care could be forced to have a child or tell an abusive parent their situation.
Teens see road blocks and find ways around them. Let’s not send our teens to back alleys or to Google where they could put themselves at risk trying to take matters into their own hands. Let’s allow them access to the help they seek.
I’m rethinking my activity level at my Methodist Church due to this. And THAT is truly sad.
The troubling part of this whole ordeal is that GBCS staff was ever willing to consider supporting FOCA. Our UMC denomination should be leading the defense of all life — from conception to natural death.
It is possible that GBCS needs to be dissolved and reconstituted? The current team’s actions reflect not a Christian denomination but a garden-variety left-wing political group.
The UMC’s position on abortion is now in-line with Christ’s teachings. There is no way one can rationally twist the commands of Jesus to include His acceptance of abortion. Christianity is about Christ and His will — let’s get our will aligned with His.
[...] UM Board of Church and Society withdraws support for Freedom of Choice Act [...]