NEWS PROVIDED BY
Institute on Religion and Democracy
June 24, 2022
WASHINGTON, June 24, 2022 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today's Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization details an effective reversal of both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, returning abortion as an issue for states to decide.
Mainline Protestant churches played a significant role in legitimizing abortion even before the Roe decision effectively struck down state level abortion restrictions and established a constitutional right to abortion. Numeric decline in Mainline churches, paired with the growth of Evangelical and Pentecostal forms of Christianity as a share of Protestant Christianity in the United States shifted public viewpoint on how best to uphold the sanctity of human life.
IRD President Mark Tooley commented:
"The overthrow of Roe v. Wade enables Christians and The Church in America to explain why our faith affirms the humanity of unborn persons and why we think they deserve legal protection.
"The Church affirms that all persons, by simply being, irrespective of their capacity or worldly value, bear God's image and are sacred.
"Post-Roe America can become more humane and more compassionate, if The Church leads the way by teaching and by example. We must also confess that The Church has not always been consistent in his commitment to defending all humanity. And so we should reflect on our own failures and consider how God may be leading us forward to a time more aligned with His purposes."
Director John Lomperis of IRD's United Methodist Action Program commented:
"This decision to move American law in a new, life-affirming direction is welcomed by a great many Christians across America and around the world.
"In 2016, I was proud to be part of the strong majority of United Methodist Church delegates who repealed our denomination's previous endorsement of the atrocious Roe v. Wade decision."
SOURCE Institute on Religion and Democracy
CONTACT: Jeff Walton 202-413-5639, jwalton@TheIRD.org
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