Presbyterian official promotes program advocating 'pro-choice movement' By Craig M. Kibler The Layman Online Wednesday, April 28, 2004 A top Presbyterian Church (USA) official, calling it "exciting news," is urging Presbyterians to watch a program about a lobbying group whose aggressive pro-abortion policies conflict with General Assembly positions – calling the television show "an excellent follow-up to the very successful 'March for Women's Lives.'" The controversial April 25 march in Washington, D.C., co-sponsored by the PCUSA but opposed by many Presbyterians, was held to oppose any restrictions on abortion. It was heavily promoted by the denomination's Washington Office, which used the home page of its Web site before the march to summon women to join the political demonstration. Organizers said the purpose of the march was to advocate absolute choice: "To ensure that all women have the right to choose to have or not to have children, with reproductive health options that are safe, affordable and accessible." The Rev. Elenora Giddings Ivory, director of the Washington Office, in an April 27 e-mail sent nationwide, said the "Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice will be featured on the PBS television program NOW with Bill Moyers," adding that, "We are thrilled that Judith and Bill Moyers believe in highlighting the importance of RCRC's unique and important role in the pro-choice movement." In 1999, the 211th General Assembly voted down an overture from the Presbytery of Donegal that called for the withdrawal of membership in and financial contributions to the Coalition because it "describes itself as a national religious coalition promoting abortion rights, which does not reflect the position of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)." In 2002, at the 214th General Assembly in Columbus, the Washington Office gave a "Partners in Mission Award" to the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. The coalition favors no limit on women's choice to have abortions, including so-called late-term abortions. It has been virulently critical of pro-life groups, whose concerns have been reflected in abortion-policy statements by the General Assembly. For instance, the General Assembly has said that abortion should not be used as a birth-control method and has recognized the deeply held convictions of pro-life advocates. Nonetheless, the PCUSA is one of the denominations affiliated with the coalition. The PCUSA's Washington Office and Women's Ministries Program Area are members, and Giddings Ivory serves on its Council of Governors. In preparing a report on the "Partners in Mission Award" for the National Ministries Division of the General Assembly Council, Giddings Ivory praised the Coalition for seeking "to ensure reproductive choice by upholding women as responsible, moral decision-makers." In the fall, shortly before President George W. Bush signed a measure into law that bans partial-birth abortions in this country, Giddings Ivory sent an "Action Alert" e-mail from her office's Legislative Action Center that criticized U.S. legislators because they "took the easy way out" and approved the measure. "As expected," she wrote, "both the Senate and the House have passed the so-called 'partial-birth' abortion bill regarding a particular late-term procedure. Many in Washington believe that some legislators took the easy way out and voted for this knowing that the current Supreme Court will make the ultimate decision when a case is brought before it based on this bill." Giddings Ivory included in her e-mail a statement from the Coalition that said it "opposes the legislation because support for it has been built by deception and fear, and it is so overbroad that it will unlawfully interfere with access to abortion generally, and it lacks the morally as well as legally required health exception." The new law is being appealed through the courts, but there has been no comment from denominational headquarters in Louisville since Congress approved it and Bush signed it. The new law places the denomination in the position of sanctioning partial-birth abortions – approved by commissioners to the 215th General Assembly – when they are banned in the United States. Numerous physicians, including Presbyterian Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, have said that late-term abortion, besides being morally wrong, poses greater risks to women than delivery. The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is a partner of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an organization that is formally aligned with groups promoting atheism, humanism, secularism, skepticism and Wicca. Giddings Ivory was a longtime director of that organization, which is a liberal public policy advocacy group founded in 1947 with chapters nationwide. For the 2002 fiscal year, the most recent year for which data is available, the Form 990 submitted to the Internal Revenue Service by Americans United shows the organization with assets of nearly $12 million. Giddings Ivory was a director as long ago as 1998, when she was identified as an officer of the organization on its Form 990. She also was identified as an officer of Americans United when, as a panelist during a May 2002 conference on "Religion, the Marriage Movement & Marriage Policy" sponsored by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, she argued that the Bible presents an inconsistent view of marriage and singleness – including the circumstances of Jesus' birth. Americans United for Separation of Church and State long has been criticized. In 1998, for example, The Charleston Gazette criticized the organization and its executive director, Barry Lynn, saying that, "From his point of view, when government directs public funds to education or welfare services provided by religious organizations, it means that 'churches are making deals with the devil.'" Americans United for the Separation of Church and State also has filed lawsuits in support of its advocacy positions. One of those actions, filed in December 2002 in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union, sought to compel the Board of Supervisors in Chesterfield County, Va., to either discontinue offering a brief prayer by local ministers, priests and rabbis before every meeting or allow a "witch and local Wiccan priestess" to participate, according to the Washington Post. The suit claimed that the board's refusal to allow the witch to participate amounted to religious discrimination, with Lynn accusing the supervisors of acting like "theological kingpins," the Washington Post reported. "This strikes at the core of the principle that we make no distinction about religion," Lynn said. Kelly E. Miller, chairman of the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors, told The Post that the board would fight the lawsuit, and that the county should continue to allow prayers only from Jews and Christians. "That is basically a non-religion," Miller said of Wicca. "It doesn't recognize the God that we have recognized. My perspective is that we should continue to follow the Judeo-Christian perspective. In the name of diversity, we need not throw away our Christian heritage." In pursuit of its advocacy programs, Americans United has partnered with various organizations, such as the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the Progressive Religious Partnership, the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Witherspoon Society, to name a few. It also has partnered with the Secular Student Alliance, which claims that its purpose is "to educate high school and college students around the country about the value of scientific reason and the intellectual basis of secularism in its atheistic and humanistic manifestations." Rob Boston, the assistant director of communications for Americans United, is a member of the advisory board for the Secular Student Alliance. In addition to its relationship with Americans United, the Secular Student Alliance promotes its partnerships with other groups – all of which, like Americans United, has a representative on the Secular Student Alliance's advisory board. Some of those partnerships include: The Atheist Alliance Inc., which describes itself as "a democratic association of independent, autonomous atheist societies" whose goal is "to establish strong, democratic atheist organizations in every state, and indeed, worldwide." The American Humanist Association, which describes itself as "a national organization founded in 1941 to promote humanism in the United States." Gay and Lesbian Atheists and Humanists, which says that some of its goals are to "support equal rights for lesbians, gays, transgenders, and bisexuals" and to "educate people about atheism and humanism." The Internet Infidels, which describes itself as being "dedicated to the growth and maintenance of the most comprehensive free thought web site on the Internet." The group says its mission is "to defend and promote metaphysical naturalism, the view that our natural world is all that there is, a closed system in no need of an explanation and sufficient unto itself." They also say that they "stand as a bulwark against the forces of superstition, especially the radical religious right." American Atheists, which says it is "dedicated to working for the civil rights of Atheists, promoting separation of state and church, and providing information about Atheism." The Military Association of Atheists & Freethinkers, which describes itself as being "dedicated to the principles of freedom, free thought, and the separation of Church and state" that is open to all those "who identify themselves as atheist, agnostic, freethinker, secular humanist, skeptic, or another form of religious non-belief." The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which calls itself "a membership organization for freethinkers - atheists, agnostics, secularists, humanists, rationalists" that "acts as an umbrella for those free from religion." The International and Humanist Ethical Union, which calls itself "the only umbrella organization of humanist, rationalist, atheist, secularist, ethical culture and agnostic groups around the world." The Washington Office has drawn criticism for years. Lodged in the National Ministries Division, the Washington Office is the lobbying arm of the Presbyterian Church (USA). While more than 50 percent of PCUSA members are registered Republicans, the list of causes promoted by the Washington Office reads like the Democratic Party platform. In recent years, it has supported partial-birth abortions while lobbying against prayer in public schools and protection of believers from religious persecution. In September 2000, the Washington Office and Church and Society Magazine were ranked the lowest in a prioritization process by a committee scrutinizing the National Ministries Division. Nevertheless, both have continued to receive full funding while PCUSA leaders have made major cuts in the programs that were ranked the highest - evangelism and racial-ethnic church development.

Respond to this article

Home · Archives · The Layman · PLC Publications Presbyterian Lay Committee · Feedback · Links