New stand on abortion

A new landmark statement formalising the Christian position on abortion with a doctrinal emphasis has been published online.

The Life Affirmation has been drafted by a group of anonymous Christians holding academic qualifications in theology and in medicine, as well as experience in pastoral ministry.

Organisers hope that individuals, churches and other organisations will be enabled to clarify their own thinking on abortion, if that is needed and, secondly, publicly declare their position by signing the statement in obedience to the Biblical command to ‘be a voice for the voiceless’.

The seven-point Affirmation, which can you can read here, rejects abortion in all cases and affirms the position that abortion is any action taken with the intention of killing an unborn child. In ‘hard cases’, such as where the mother’s life is at risk or where pregnancy is the result of rape, the affirmation acknowledges the need for a different response.

A member of the group behind Life Affirmation described abortion as one of the most pressing justice issues of our time. He added: ‘We believe this position statement is vital and timely for two reasons: political and pastoral.

‘In Northern Ireland, protections in law were removed for unborn children almost two years ago, and there is continual pressure in Great Britain to make a similar change to the law. Our experience tells us that a united position on the morality of abortion is essential to undergird unity among groups campaigning on the issue. We think the Life Affirmation can provide that for Christians.

‘On the pastoral front, many women and families have been affected by abortions. We believe that a clear position statement can help pastors as they seek to support and guide these people towards restoration in Christ.’

The group member added that they hope it will help ‘remove potential misunderstandings among non-Christians about what Christians believe’.

‘We are not simply interested in the unborn child, but also in the mother, and we are not about condemning anyone but bringing hope and help to those in need,’ he added.

On the lifeaffirmation.org website, a statement explains: ‘The Life Affirmation is an attempt to put into words how Christians should think about abortion.

‘The emphasis is doctrinal and the aim is to bring clarity. There remains much confusion in the Church concerning the morality or ethics of abortion. The record needs to be set straight. To keep the focus purely on doctrine and ethics, the Affirmation does not comment on specifics of pro-life strategy.

‘The Life Affirmation has been drafted by a group of Christians, from a range of churchmanships, whose desire is to serve the Church by providing a clear position on this issue. Collectively they have significant experience and academic qualifications in theology and in medicine and in pastoral ministry. They have chosen to remain anonymous so as to make it all the more clear that when an individual, church, or organisation signs and adopts the Life Affirmation, they are not expressing affiliation with any churchmanship, organisation, or wider pro-life strategy: they are simply declaring that they consider these words to be an accurate description of how Christians should think about abortion.

‘The Life Affirmation is not an organisation or charity, it is simply this verbal statement. Signatories’ names and e-mail addresses will not be passed on to third parties or used for any purpose other than having their name published on this website as one of the signatories. The website will never be expanded to include anything other than the Life Affirmation, and signatories may request to have their names removed at any time.’

Signatories so far include former en editor John Benton, evangelist J. John and Andrea Williams of Christian Concern.