'Pro-Choice' Clergywoman Claims God Often Wills Abortion
By Bill Fancher
April 1, 2004

(AgapePress) - Many conservatives may be surprised to learn that, in the battle over abortion, the vast majority of religious denominations and their clergy support the pro-abortion side.

At many of the pro-homosexual rights and pro-abortion rights rallies that take place across the United States, a large contingent of clergy who support these rights can often be found. Conservative Christians often find it difficult to understand how members of the Church and especially the clergy can support ideas and lifestyles that are contrary to the teachings of the Bible.

Nevertheless, these members are in the Church, and they have a rationale for their positions. One such clergy member is Dr. Roselyn Smith-Withers, an African-American minister in the Baptist church. She believes that abortion is a decision that can be sanctioned by God. "I believe God speaks to women and enables them to make decisions for themselves," she says.

The Baptist clergy member, who is a clergy counselor for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, considers herself a "Christian pro-choice advocate." She recently testified in a congressional committee hearing and told members of Congress she believes God sometimes directs women to have abortions.

"I believe that when we do not agree or understand the challenges that a woman is facing, we can be absolutely certain that God understands," Smith-Withers says.

The pro-abortion-rights minister contends that her Christian faith does not conflict with her position that women "have the moral authority to make decisions that are healthy, helpful, good, and of God," even if one of those decisions is to end the life of an unborn child.

Smith-Withers recently told Congress that God can enable a woman to choose abortion as her best option, and it is part of her ministry to alert women to this. "I believe that God has called me to a ministry that includes compassion for all of God's children, through all phases of their experience," she says.

Clergy Counselor Tells Senate
Abortion “A Responsible, Moral Decision”

Reverend Dr. Roselyn Smith-Withers told a Senate subcommittee hearing March 3 that most women who have an abortion “believe they have made a responsible, moral decision.”

“Both my personal experience as a clergy counselor and scientific research have shown that, while some women may experience regret, sadness or guilt after an abortion, the overwhelming feelings are of resolution, peace, and having coped responsibly and morally with a difficult situation,” she said at a hearing on the “impact of abortion on women.” The hearing was held by the Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space, chaired by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS).

Reverend Dr. Smith-Withers, a Baptist minister and trained counselor in the RCRC All Options Clergy Counseling program, expressed concern about the efforts to stigmatize abortion and women who have had abortions. These attempts “simplify the complex nature of each woman's feelings” and try to “induce guilt and undermine a woman's self-respect and confidence that God can and does speak directly to her.”

The claim that abortion is harmful is not borne out by the scientific literature or by personal experiences of those who counsel women in non-judgmental, supportive modalities such as All Options Clergy Counseling, she said. “It may be the negative attitudes of others that cause harm, not abortion.”

Each year, 2 out of every 100 women aged 15-44 have an abortion. According to the latest figures available from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, in 2000, 1.31 million abortions took place in the United States, down from an estimated 1.36 million in 1996. Forty-nine percent of pregnancies among American women are unintended; approximately half of these are terminated by abortion.

RCRC Will Continue to Expose Deceptive Campaign About Abortion Procedures, Applauds Lawsuits to Stop the Ban

The “partial-birth abortion ban” bill of 2003 that has been signed into law by President Bush arose from a deceptive and corrupt misinformation campaign to inflame the public, confuse the media, criminalize doctors, and strip women of their ability to make medical decisions. RCRC will continue to expose this campaign to deny women full and effective reproductive health care. We also will continue to work to reduce the need for abortion while preserving both women’s right to make the decisions they deem best and the legality and availability of procedures, including abortion, that safeguard the life and health of women.

We are heartened that three lawsuits have been filed to stop the ban, which lacks the morally as well as legally required health exception. This bill interferes with the basic responsibility of medical professionals to inform patients of all options and the ability of women to choose a procedure that is the safest and most appropriate for them. Thirty years after Roe v. Wade, it should be unthinkable that a doctor could be prosecuted as a criminal for performing an abortion procedure yet that is what would happen under this bill.

The absence of a health exception makes it clear that the purpose of this legislation is to undermine the legality of all abortions throughout pregnancy, not to outlaw some procedures. As a coalition of faith groups with various positions on abortion, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) does not advocate for abortion or take positions on specific abortion procedures. We do advocate that, as moral agents, women are entitled to make medical decisions concerning their health and reproductive lives according to their faith and conscience as well as on factual, sound, safe and compassionate medical advice.