 Panel rejects overture seeking to remove incest, rape as allowable conditions for late-term abortion The Layman Online Wednesday, May 28, 2003
The Health Issues Committee, which earlier adopted a statement that substantially concurs with one approved by the 214th General Assembly last year that sanctioned late-term abortions and included incest and rape as allowable circumstances, recommended that commissioners disapprove an overture (03-21) from the Eastminster Presbytery. The Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns had recommended to the committee that the overture be defeated because, it said in its rationale: "Rape and incest are of such horrific nature, and create such complicated factors for women in the pregnancy process that the essential role of the church must be pastoral and supportive as women face questions of grave concern. In these cases, further mitigating factors beyond pregnancy require and demand that the church be more compassionate with women as they face extremely difficult decisions." The Eastminster overture argued that "pregnancies that are the product of incest or rape produce healthy babies with much the same frequency as other pregnancies. In the case of incest, the baby may have a slightly increased incidence of developmental abnormalities. In the absence of a demonstrated fetal anomaly and the absence of maternal distress, late-term abortion (defined as occurring after the point of viability) constitutes a morally indefensible and unwarranted taking |
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