19 November 2007

Anglican Bishops Conference – Statement on Unborn Child

Right to Life is disappointed that the Anglican Bishops have in a reply to this Society declined to make a public statement in defence of the lives of innocent and defenceless unborn children. They stated;”The Archbishops have asked that I assure you that they believe strongly in the sanctity of life and that the Church has well developed pastoral ethics in this area. They would however prefer to communicate those ethics in our own Churches and in our own ways and not through media statements.”

On the15th September 2007, Right to Life wrote to the Anglican Bishop’s Conference and three other major denominations. encouraging them to make a public statement in defence of unborn children. December this year marks the 30th anniversary of the passing of the Contraception Sterilisation and Abortion Act 1977. This legislation was passed by Parliament with the intention of protecting the human rights of unborn children and protecting the health and welfare of women. It has sadly failed in these objectives. The Abortion Supervisory Committee has reported that since the Act was passed more than 350,000 abortions have been reported. Abortion entails the violent killing of God’s precious infants; it constitutes a grave offence to God who is the author of life. It is a violation of the human rights of unborn children who at conception are endowed by God with an inalienable right to life. It inflicts serious spiritual damage on vulnerable women who are the second victims of abortion. We should recognise that every child is a unique an unrepeatable miracle of God’s loving creation.

Churches have a serious duty to God the Creator of life to speak up loudly in the public square in defence of the right to life of God’s precious infants. They also have a duty to the community to give clear and loud moral direction on the most important human rights issue of our time. Their silence will be construed by those in government as consent for the state sanctioned and funded slaughter of children in the womb.

The Anglican Bishops Conference commendably made a media release in September in opposition to the current imprisonment and planned deportation of Ali Panah, an Iranian Christian. This is an important justice issue, however it does not compare with the murder of innocent children. Right to Life urges the Anglican Bishops to reconsider their decision not to speak up publicly. They should become the champions of unborn children, who are the weakest and most defenceless members of our human family.They should also champion women who are the second victims of abortion. They would then provide the moral leadership this nation desperately needs.

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