68 Iowa Faith Leaders Sign Letter in
Support of Abortion
(CNSNews.com) -- In reaction to legislation advancing in the Iowa
legislature that would ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected,
usually around six weeks into pregnancy, 68 faith leaders in Iowa issued a letter stating their support for abortion and
their support for women "to make their own healthcare decisions."
In a letter published in the Des
Moines Register, March 15, the religious figures
said, "As faith leaders, we want to use our collective voices to stand
with Iowa women in support of their constitutional right to make independent
healthcare decisions, including the right to an abortion."
"It is not the role of the
government to infringe upon a woman's right to make private medical
decisions," they said. "The constitutional right of women to make
their own healthcare decisions is being attacked in the Iowa Legislature."
In late February, the Iowa Senate
voted (30-20) to approve
legislation that would ban abortions,
except in the case of a medical emergency, after a baby's heartbeat is
detected, which is usually around six weeks into pregnancy.
A similar measure in the Iowa House
recently passed in its House Human
Resources Committee. A public hearing
was held on the measure last week. The legislation now moves to the full House
for debate.
In their letter, the faith leaders
continued, "There is a broad spectrum of beliefs within the faith community regarding the
beginning of life. We do not wish to debate that issue because, quite simply,
our personal religious beliefs are not relevant to the legal debate. Our
personal religious beliefs should not be the driver of public policy....
Another person's theological understanding of when life begins cannot trump the
rights of women."
"Some in the Iowa Legislature
are inserting themselves into the most personal decisions that women may have
to make," reads the letter. "They are attempting to damage the rights
of Iowa women by advancing a ban on abortion about six weeks after
conception.... Every woman deserves to consult her values, faith, and doctor
when making a decision about her body and her pregnancy. Any law that strips a
woman of her faith and tries instead to legislate her values for her is
immoral."
"We stand with the women of
Iowa and their constitutional right to make their own healthcare
decisions," reads the letter. "We ask the Iowa Legislature to do the
same."
Among the 68 letter-signers
are Connie
Ryan, executive director of the
Interfaith Alliance of Iowa; Laurie Haller, the resident bishop for the Iowa
Conference of the United Methodist Church; and Rabbi David Kaufman, Reform
Judaism in Des Moines. Many of the other signers are with the Episcopal Church,
the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, and the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America.
Commenting on the legislation, the
Iowa Catholic Conference said it "supports the life-affirming intent of
'heartbeat' abortion legislation such as Senate File 2281. We appreciate
legislators for their efforts to advance the protection of unborn children and
we remain committed to helping with efforts aimed at resolving questions
regarding the bill’s constitutionality."
"Science shows that life begins
at conception," said the ICC. "May we continue to work
together in solidarity on ways to protect vulnerable people, including the
unborn."
State Sen. Amy Sinclair (R) told the
legislature, “People in this chamber with a beating heart, please take a
moment with me to reflect on what it means to be human, to be a person with
rights, to aggressively defend your own right to life and to defend your
reasonable expectation that your government should actively support you and all
other individuals with a beating heart in that very same endeavor."
Comments
The
churches are in trouble. Church membership is eroding and most of it is caused
by the moral relativism and liberal dogma being embraced by church leaders. The
Interfaith Alliance group in Iowa could have handled this better.
One would
think that a church would instruct its members not to sin and then not stone
them if they did. They also have the right to speak up when laws are
incompatible with their official beliefs.
Going
much beyond that is organizational suicide. Churches are split 50-50 between
Liberals and Conservatives, so churches either have to identify as one or the
other or not take sides on laws and leave the job of giving feedback to legislators
to the individual voters.
Churches
need to focus on “right living” and explain the advantages. They also need to
list the disadvantages of the failure to “live right”. They need to apply the
scriptures to current times, with relevance to those they are there to teach.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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