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Christianity and abortion have a long and complex history. There is no direct reference to abortion in the Bible, nor any explicit condemnation of abortion. The lack of discussion of abortion in Christian scripture has led to varied and divergent stances on the moral acceptability of abortion across Christian denominations and among Christians. Today, Christian denominations hold widely variant stances.^[1]

Range of positions taken by Christian denominations

Some Christian denominations can be considered abortion rights supporters while others are not. Additionally, there are sizable minorities in all denominations that disagree with their denomination's stance on abortion.^[1] While some writers say that early Christians held different beliefs at different times about abortion,^[2][3][4] others say that they condemned abortion at any point of pregnancy as a grave sin,^[5] a condemnation that they maintained even when some early Christians did not view as homicide the elimination of a fetus not yet "formed" and animated by a human soul.^[6] Some authors, such as ethicist Benjamin Wiker, have contrasted the prohibition of abortion in later Christian societies with the availability of abortion that was present in earlier Roman society, arguing that this reflects a wider condemnation of pagan practices.^[7]

Daniel C. Maguire asserts that European-generated "mainline" Protestant denominations have clearly moved in the direction of accepting family planning and contraception as well as "support for legal access to abortion, although with qualifications regarding the moral justification for specific acts of abortion." This general trend among "mainline" Protestant denominations has been resisted by Christian Fundamentalists who are generally opposed to abortion.^[8] Thus, religious leaders in more liberal Christian denominations became supporters of abortion rights while Evangelical and other conservative Protestants found themselves allied with the Catholic Church which remained staunchly anti-abortion.^[9]

Biblical passages

A number of biblical passages are often cited by Christians on either side of the abortion question. Some frequently cited ones and common arguments surrounding them are as follows:

Caption: example table

Passage	Perspective Allowing Abortion	Perspective Against Abortion
Genesis 2:7 (Garden of Eden narrative, see also Soul in the Bible § Genesis 2:7) - "Then the LORD (Yahweh)[note 1] God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being". (NIV)	Christian advocates of abortion rights cite this passage as proof that human personhood begins once the "breath of life" enters the body;[10][11] lungs of a fetus are not considered fully-functioning until around 37 weeks gestation and cannot breathe until birth.[12]	Opponents of legalized abortion reject this interpretation and say that Adam and Eve, having been fully formed as adults, should not be compared to a fetus.[11]
Exodus 21:22–25 (Harm to a pregnant woman, see Mishpatim § Exodus chapters 21–22 at "Harm to a Pregnant Woman" for parallels in other Ancient Near Eastern legal texts): "When men have a fight and hurt a pregnant woman, so that she suffers a miscarriage, but no further injury, the guilty one shall be fined as much as the woman's husband demands of him, and he shall pay in the presence of the judges. But if injury ensues, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." (NAB)	Christians who are in favour of legalized abortion cite this passage because it shows that when a woman suffers miscarriage from a blow during a fight, only a fine is required in compensation, while if the woman is injured or killed, then the punishment must be equal to the injury suffered, including capital punishment if the woman dies.[13] According to abortion rights advocates, the significance of this Biblical passage is that causing a woman to miscarry "warrants financial compensation only (to her husband), suggesting that the fetus is property, not a person."[14]	Christians who are against legalized abortion, however, argue that this passage still represents the causing of a miscarriage as sinful.[15][16][citation needed]They also claim that the arguments in favor of abortion are based on a mistranslation of the Hebrew in Exodus 21.[17]
Numbers 5:11–31 (Ordeal of the bitter water) -- Numbers 5:27: 'Once she has done so, if she has been impure and unfaithful to her husband, this bitter water that brings a curse will go into her, and her belly will swell and her thighs will waste away, so that she will become an example of imprecation among her people.' (NAB)	In this passage, a woman who is suspected of adultery is made to drink something that will cause her thigh to waste away and her belly to swell if she was guilty of adultery. Christians who support legalized abortion believe that this is talking about the woman's fetus being destroyed if she was guilty of adultery with another man.[14][18][19][20]	Christians against legalized abortion, however, argue that this passage is not referring to an abortion and that the effects on the woman's body refer to a divine punishment for oathbreaking in Jewish tradition. The practice is also not believed to have been practiced in Christianity. It was also undertaken by both Men and Women as a test for adultery.[21][22][23][24][15]
Jeremiah 1:5 (calling of Jeremiah narrative): "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you." (NAB)	Christians who support legalized abortion, however, have argued that this passage refers only to Jeremiah alone and explains his uniqueness by saying that God made plans for him even before he was born. They say that this passage is "a reference to a special plan for one man rather than a general approach to biology and reproduction."[13]	Christians opposed to legalized abortion have interpreted this passage to mean that life begins prior to birth, thus making abortion the taking of a person's life.[25][26][27][28][29]
Luke 1:15 (in the prologue, featuring John the Baptist's parents): "For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." (KJV); and Luke 1:41–44 (in the Visitation narrative): " And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she cried out with a loud voice, and said: Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy." (KJV)	As in the case of the passage from Jeremiah, supporters of abortion rights argue that this passage explains the uniqueness of John the Baptist and does not say anything about other fetal life.[13] They also maintain that passages that relate to the later stages of pregnancy are not relevant to the general abortion question, because the vast majority of abortions occur early in pregnancy, before "quickening" (when the woman first feels movement of the fetus) or "ensoulment" (when the fetus is "formed" or "ensouled" according to ancient beliefs). In early times, true pregnancy was usually interpreted as beginning at quickening or ensoulment.[30][31]: 61	Christians opposed to legalized abortion point to these verses dealing with Elizabeth's pregnancy with her son (the future John the Baptist) as showing that the fetus was a person, because the fetus was filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother's womb and leaped for joy at the sound of Mary's salutation. The Greek word used in line 44 'βρέφος' (Brephos) is also used for infants after birth and it was used by the gospel writer in describing the baby Jesus in Bethlehem in the second chapter of Luke.[29][32]

Catholic Church

Part of a series of articles on
Abortion and the Catholic Church
Official opposition Canon 915 Eucharist denial or excommunication Canon 1397 §2 Evangelium vitae Humanae vitae In politics
Philosophy and theology Consistent life ethic Culture of life Sanctity of life Ensoulment Double effect Indirect abortion
History Gianna Beretta Molla Margaret McBride excommunication 2009 Brazilian girl abortion case Death of Savita Halappanavar
Activism March for Life Life and Family Paris Prague Washington, D.C. West Coast Priests for Life Sisters of Life Knights of Columbus Catholic Answers CatholicVote.org American Life League Center for Family and Human Rights National Right to Life Committee
Dissidence Catholics for Choice A Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion
See also Other Christian views In the United States Abortion Abortion law
Catholic Church portal
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The Catholic Church states that its opposition to abortion follows from a belief that human life begins at conception and that "human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception."^[33] Accordingly, it opposes procedures whose purpose is to destroy an embryo or fetus for whatever motive (even before implantation), but admits acts, such as chemotherapy or hysterectomy of a pregnant woman who has cervical cancer, which indirectly result in the death of the fetus.^[34] The Church holds that "the first right of the human person is his life" and that life is assumed to begin at fertilization. As such, Canon 1398 provides that "a person who procures a successful abortion incurs an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication" from the Church, which can only be removed when that individual seeks penance and obtains absolution.^[35] The Church has affirmed that every procured abortion is a moral evil, a teaching that the Catechism of the Catholic Church declares "has not changed and remains unchangeable" since the first century.^[36] However, this claim of consistency of the Church on the question of abortion is disputed by a number of historians, such as John Connery,^[37] Ann Hibner Koblitz,^[38] Angus McLaren,^[39] John Noonan,^[40] and John Riddle.^[41][42] With the exception of the three-year period 1588–1591, abortion before quickening was not prohibited by Catholic canon law until 1869.^{[40]: 362–364} Early Catholics disagreed whether ensoulment happened at conception or (as in Roman tradition) at some later point, and thus whether early abortion was murder, a minor sin, or morally neutral.

With the papal bull Apostolicae Sedis moderationi of 1869, Pope Pius IX, without making any distinction about the stage of pregnancy, listed as subject to an excommunication from which only a bishop could grant absolution those who effectively procured an abortion.^[43] The authors of one book have interpreted this as "Pius IX declared all direct abortions homicide",^[44] but the document merely declared that those who procured an effective abortion incurred excommunication reserved to bishops or ordinaries.^[45] In 1895, the Church specifically condemned therapeutic abortions.^[46]

Apart from indicating in its canon law^[47] that automatic excommunication such as that laid down for procurement of a completed abortion does not apply to women who abort because of a direct threat to the life of a mother if her pregnancy continues or indeed of any grave fear or grave inconvenience, the Catholic Church assures the possibility of forgiveness for women who have had an abortion without any such attenuation. Pope John Paul II wrote:

I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.^[48]

Many, and in some Western countries most, Catholics hold different positions on abortion than those promulgated by the Church; the views of these people range from generally anti-abortion positions allowing some exceptions, to more general acceptance of abortion.^[49][50][51]

Politics

Anti-legal abortion organizing

Connie Paige has been quoted as having said that, "the Roman Catholic Church created the right-to-life movement. Without the church, the movement would not exist as such today."^[52]

National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1968–1973

The National Conference of Catholic Bishops selected James Thomas McHugh, administrator of the United States Catholic Conference's Family Life Bureau, and during 1967 to organize its National Right to Life Committee (NRLC).^[53] The National Right to Life Committee was formed in 1968 under the auspices of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops to coordinate information and strategy between emerging state anti-abortion groups.^[54] These groups were forming in response to efforts to change abortion laws based on model legislation proposed by the American Law Institute (ALI). New Jersey attorney Juan Ryan served as the organization's first president. NRLC held a nationwide meeting of anti-abortion leaders in Chicago in 1970 at Barat College. The following year, NRLC held its first convention at Macalestar College in St. Paul, Minnesota. From 1968 to 1971, the organization published a newsletter that informed member organizations about abortion-related legislation in the states.

NRLC Incorporation, Human Life Amendment

When the NRLC was formally incorporated in May 1973 in response to the US Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision (which struck down most state laws in the United States restricting abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy), the National Conference of Catholic Bishops launched into a campaign to amend the United States Constitution with the enactment of a Human Life Amendment seeking not only to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision, but to also forbid both Congress and the states from legalizing abortion within the United States.^[55][56][57] Its first convention as an incorporated organization was held the following month in Detroit, Michigan. At the concurrent meeting of NRLC's board, Ed Golden of New York was elected president. Among the organization's founding members was Dr. Mildred Jefferson, the first African-American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School. Jefferson subsequently served as president of the organization.^[58] Conventions have been held in various cities around the country every summer since the Detroit convention.

Following incorporation in 1973, the committee began publishing National Right to Life News. The newsletter has been in continuous publication since November 1973 and is now published daily online as the news and commentary feed, National Right To Life News Today.

Withholding communion

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Many controversies have arisen over its treatment of Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. In some cases, bishops have threatened to withhold communion to such politicians; in others, bishops have urged politicians in this situation to refrain from receiving communion. In a few cases, such as the case of Mario Cuomo, the possibility of excommunication has been considered.

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church believes that life begins at conception, and that abortion (including the use of abortifacient drugs) is the taking of a human life. The Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church states that, if it is because of a direct threat to her life that a woman interrupts her pregnancy, especially if she already has other children, she is not to be excommunicated from the church because of this sin, which however she must confess to a priest and fulfill the penance that he assigns:

In case of a direct threat to the life of a mother if her pregnancy continues, especially if she has other children, it is recommended to be lenient in the pastoral practice. The woman who interrupted pregnancy in this situation shall not be excluded from the Eucharistic communion with the Church provided that she has fulfilled the canon of Penance assigned by the priest who takes her confession.^[59]

The document also acknowledges that abortions often are a result of poverty and helplessness and that the Church and society should "work out effective measures to protect motherhood."

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) opposes elective abortions "for personal or social convenience".^{[60]: 45 [61]} It also states that abortion is an acceptable option in cases of rape, incest, danger to the health or life of the mother, or where the fetus will not survive beyond birth.^[62][61][63] In a 2023 US-wide PRRI poll that included 402 LDS-identifying respondents, 30% said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 69% said it should be illegal in all or most cases.^[64] The church has no official position on when life begins,^[65] but does state that ordinances such as naming and blessing children and sealing them to their parents are not needed for stillborn or miscarried children.^[66]

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses adopt a very strong anti-abortion stance, based on their interpretation of the Bible. Jehovah's Witnesses have a long list of "serious sins" - one of which is abortion.^[67] Jehovah's Witnesses believe that life begins at conception, and that all life is sacred - thus believing that abortion is tantamount to murder.

They believe that deliberately inducing an abortion for the "sole purpose of which is to avoid the birth of an unwanted child" is an "act of high crime" in the eyes of God.^[68] In the case of the mother's life being at risk, Jehovah's Witnesses suggest the mother needs to make a "personal decision about which life to save".^[69][70]

For baptized Jehovah's Witnesses that have had an abortion, it is demanded that the individual turns to God in prayer, and demonstrate repentance. It is common for the mother to be the subject of a judicial committee hearing. It is possible that a judicial committee - made up of Church elders - will rule that the individual should be disfellowshipped.^[71] However, if the mother is deemed to be repentant, she will be formally reproofed. This results in the individual having restrictions placed on their actions within the congregation (such as being prohibited from commenting during meetings or conducting group prayers), normally for a year.^[72]

Protestant denominations

In the twentieth century, the debate over the morality of abortion became one of several issues which divided and continue to divide Protestantism. Thus, Protestant views on abortion vary considerably with Protestants to be found in both the "anti-abortion" and "abortion-rights" camps.^[73] Conservative Protestants tend to be anti-abortion whereas "mainline" Protestants lean towards an abortion-rights stance. The Black Protestant community is strongly pro-choice, with 71% supporting legal access to abortion in all or most cases, while only 25% believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.^[74] Black Protestant support for legal access to abortion has risen since the Dobbs decision, including 65% of Black evangelicals who support legal access to abortion and 80% of non-evangelical Black Protestants.^[75]

Former Southern Baptist Convention President W.A. Criswell (1969-1970) welcomed Roe v. Wade, saying that ""I have always felt that it was only after a child was born and had a life separate from its mother that it became an individual person," the redoubtable fundamentalist declared, "and it has always, therefore, seemed to me that what is best for the mother and for the future should be allowed." This was a common attitude among evangelicals at the time.^[76][77] Criswell would later reverse himself on his earlier position.

Even among Protestants who believe that abortion should be a legal option, there are those who believe that it should nonetheless be morally unacceptable in most instances. This stance was expressed by former President Bill Clinton when he asserted that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare." Other Protestants, most notably the Evangelicals, have sought to sharply restrict the conditions under which abortion is legally available. At the other extreme, some Protestants support freedom of choice and assert that abortion should not only be legal but even morally acceptable in certain circumstances.^[73]

Protestant supporters of abortion rights include the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Lutheran Women's Caucus.^[9][78] At its 2016 General Conference, the United Methodist Church voted by a margin of 425 to 268 to withdraw from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. The vote reflects a growing conservative tide on social issues among United Methodists, including abortion.^[79]

In the United States, the Reformed Church in the United States, Southern Baptist Convention and Assemblies of God USA are opposed to abortion, except when necessary to protect the life of the mother.^[80][81]

Fundamentalist and evangelical movements

Despite their general opposition to abortion, fundamentalist churches that include the conservative evangelical, Non-denominational, Independent Baptist and Pentecostal movements, do not have a consensus doctrine regarding abortion. While these movements hold in common that abortion (when there is no threat to the life of the mother) is a form of infanticide, there is no consensus as to whether exceptions should be allowed when the mother's life is in mortal danger, or when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest. Some argue that the lives of both the mother and fetus should be given equal consideration, in effect condemning all abortion including those performed to save the life of the mother. Others argue for exceptions which favor the life of the mother, perhaps including pregnancies resulting from cases of rape or incest.^[82]

National (United States) Association of Evangelicals

The National Association of Evangelicals includes the Salvation Army, the Assemblies of God, and the Church of God, among others, and takes an anti-abortion stance. While there is no set doctrine among member churches on if or when abortion is appropriate in cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother, the NAE's position on abortion states, "...abortion on demand for reasons of personal convenience, social adjustment or economic advantage is morally wrong, and expresses its firm opposition to any legislation designed to make abortion possible for these reasons."^[83]

Baptist churches

American Baptist Churches

The General Board of the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. opposes abortion "as a means of avoiding responsibility for conception, as a primary means of birth control, and without regard for the far-reaching consequences of the act." There is no agreement on when personhood begins, whether there are situations that allow for abortion, whether there should be laws to protect the life of embryos and whether laws should allow women the right to choose an abortion.^[84]

Southern Baptist Convention

Southern Baptists played an integral part in the pro-choice movement prior to 1980. During the 1971 Southern Baptist Convention, the delegates passed a resolution recognizing that "Christians in the American society today are faced with difficult decisions about abortion", stating that laws should recognize the "sanctity of human life, including fetal life", and calling upon Southern Baptists to work for laws allowing abortion in extreme cases such as rape, severe fetal deformity, and the health of the mother.^[85] The stance was described in the media as "hedging" on abortion and a resolution opposing all abortions was defeated.^[86] W. Barry Garrett wrote in the Baptist Press, "Religious liberty, human equality and justice are advanced by the Supreme Court Decision."^[87] In 1980, the SBC revised their 1971 position by only making exceptions for the life of the mother.^[88]

Today, the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, opposes elective abortion except to save the life of the mother.^[89] The Southern Baptist Convention calls on Southern Baptists to work to change the laws in order to make abortion illegal in most cases.^[89] Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission from 1988 to 2013, said that he believes abortion is more damaging than anything else, even poverty.^[90]

Anglican Communionedit

Positions taken by Anglicans across the world are divergent and often nuanced.

The Church of Englandedit

The Church of England generally opposes abortion. In 1980 it stated that: "In the light of our conviction that the foetus has the right to live and develop as a member of the human family, we see abortion, the termination of that life by the act of man, as a great moral evil. We do not believe that the right to life, as a right pertaining to persons, admits of no exceptions whatever; but the right of the innocent to life admits surely of few exceptions indeed." The Church also recognizes that in some instances abortion is "morally preferable to any available alternative."^[91]

The Episcopal Churchedit

The Episcopal Church in the United States of America has taken a nuanced position and has passed resolutions at its triannual General Convention. "General Convention resolutions have expressed unequivocal opposition to any legislation abridging a woman's right to make an informed decision about the termination of pregnancy, as well as the pain and possible support that may be needed for those making difficult life decisions."^[92] The Episcopal Church also condemns violence against abortion clinics.^[92]

The Anglican Church of Australiaedit

The Anglican Church of Australia does not take an official position on abortion.^[93] However, in December 2007, an all-woman committee representing the Melbourne diocese recommended that abortion be "decriminalised", on the basis of the ethical view that "the moral significance of the embryo increases with the age and development of the foetus".^[94] This is seen to be the first approval of abortion by an official Australian Anglican group.^[95]

Lutheran Churchesedit

Lutheranism in the United States consists largely of three denominations: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (4.5 million members), the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (2.3 million members), and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (0.4 million members).

ELCAedit

"Because of our conviction that both the life of the woman and the life in her womb must be respected by law, this church opposes:

• the total lack of regulation of abortion;
• legislation that would outlaw abortion in all circumstances;
• laws that prevent access to information about all options available to women faced with unintended pregnancies;
• laws that deny access to safe and affordable services for morally justifiable abortions;
• mandatory or coerced abortion or sterilization;
• laws that prevent couples from practicing contraception;
• laws that are primarily intended to harass those contemplating or deciding for an abortion"^[96]

The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synodedit

The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) views abortion as contrary to God's Word. The church has stated that abortion "is not a moral option, except as a tragically unavoidable byproduct of medical procedures necessary to prevent the death of another human being, viz., the mother."^[97] The LCMS believes that whether abortion is legal or not, it does not change the fact that abortion is a sin. On the topic of whether abortion is allowed in the case of rape or incest, the LCMS has stated that though there are many "emotional arguments for abortion... the fact of the matter is that it is wrong to take the life of one innocent victim (the unborn child)...It is indeed a strange logic that would have us kill an innocent unborn baby for the crime of his father."^[98]

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synodedit

The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod adopted a resolution in July 2011 on social issues, where it includes the twofold approach:^[99]

1. "Encouraging the WELS ministerium to continue the faithful proclamation of God's Word also when it addresses social issues."
2. "Encouraging the membership to be a positive influence in the battle against sin by their public testimony and vote."

In this resolution of social issues, a resolution of the topic of abortion has been included. Within it, on the topic of abortion, the WELS continues to express its commitment to the Holy Scriptures and believes that the Holy Scriptures "clearly testify to a reverence for the life of the mother and the life of her unborn child as both being equal in value."^[99] Furthermore, the intentional termination of a life should be considered a sin because the WELS would consider the unborn a life and the Bible commands against murder.^[100] On the issue of the endangering the mother's life during the pregnancy, the WELS states that effort to save both the mother's and baby's life, but if that is not possible, then there should be effort to save at least one life.

Methodist Churchesedit

Methodist Church of Great Britainedit

The Methodist Church of Great Britain takes a moderate anti-abortion position.^[101] The Methodist Church of Great Britain believes its members should work toward the elimination of the need for abortion by advocating for social support for mothers. The MCGB states that "Abortion must not be regarded as an alternative to contraception, nor is it to be justified merely as a method of birth control. The termination of any form of human life cannot be regarded superficially and abortion should not be available on demand, but should remain subject to a legal framework, to responsible counselling and to medical judgement."^[102]

United Methodist Churchedit

The United Methodist Church was a founding member of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in 1973.^[103] Within the Coalition's website is this statement, "Subsequently, if sex serves purposes beyond reproduction, then a woman has the legal right to both prevent and interrupt a pregnancy". In 2008 the United Methodist General Conference went on record in support of the work of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC).

In 1987 the Taskforce of United Methodists on Abortion and Sexuality (TUMAS) was formed as an unofficial anti-abortion group within the United Methodist Church.^[104] As a result of the efforts of TUMAS, on May 19, 2016, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to withdraw the General Board of Church and Society and the United Methodist Women from the RCRC.^[105] However, the letter informing the RCRC of the withdrawal also stated that the United Methodist Church continues to support "the reproductive health of women and girls", and encourages the RCRC to continue its educational work, advocacy, and supportive ministries.^[105]

American Presbyterian and Reformed Churchesedit

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) generally takes a pro-choice stance.^[106] The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) believes that the choice to receive an elective abortion can be "morally acceptable;" however, the denomination does not condone late abortions where the fetus is viable and the mother's life is not in danger.^[106] Other Presbyterian denominations such as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church^[107] and the Presbyterian Church in America^[108] are anti-abortion. Most Reformed churches, including both the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church in North America are anti-abortion. The earliest statement against abortion was 1972, when the Reformed Church in the United States adopted the statement “in the light of Ps. 51:6, we as a Classis take a stand against all abortion as murder except in a dire case to save a mother’s life.”^[109]

Quakers (The Religious Society of Friends)edit

The Religious Society of Friends generally avoids taking a stance on controversial issues such as abortion;^[110] however, in the 1970s the American Friends Service Committee advocated for abortion rights.^[110]

Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)edit

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) General Assembly has "repeatedly affirmed its support for the principles of a woman's right to reproductive freedom, of the freedom and responsibility of individual conscience, and of the sacredness of life of all persons. While advocating respect for differences of religious beliefs concerning abortion, Disciples have consistently opposed any attempts to legislate a specific religious opinion regarding abortion for all Americans."^[111]

United Church of Christ (UCC)edit

The United Church of Christ has strongly supported abortion rights since 1971 as a part of their Justice and Witness Ministry. The church is an organizational member of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL).^[112][113]

Community of Christedit

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