Not only has the United Methodist Church recently made progress in recognizing the need to protect the sanctity of traditional marriage and upholding Biblical teaching on sexual morality, but it seems this influential, global organization is moving closer to a position of defending the sanctity of unborn and elderly human life. At the recent global conference (which occurs every four years) the sanctity of human life was upheld by resolutions in the following ways (source: The Institute on Religion and Democracy):
- "Affirm and encourage the Church to assist the ministry of crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers that compassionately help women find feasible alternatives to abortion."
- "Respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother and the unborn child."
- Support for adult "notification and consent" when a minor is seeking an abortion.
- "Reject euthanasia and pressure upon the dying to end their lives."
- Delete language from a previous United Methodist statement that had been used to support abortion as a means of back-up birth control.
- Decrying the international problem of gender- selective abortions, while describing abortion as "violent" and opposing "trivial reasons" for abortion.
LifeNews also reports. Excerpt:
Mark Tooley, the director of the UMAction Committee of the Institute on Religion and Democracy told LifeNews.com he's pleased with the small steps to move in a pro-life direction.
"These incremental steps continue a trend from the last several General Conferences towards an increased acknowledgement of the sanctity of all human life," he said.
"The United Methodist Church is slowly moving towards the historic Christian concern for the most vulnerable," he added. "These latest moves continue this positive trend."