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An excerpt from “Why Life is Important”

by Georgette Forney, President of Anglicans for Life.

Here is a brief synopsis of the Anglican Communion’s and the Episcopal Church’s resolutions on Life.

At the 1930 Lambeth Conference, two resolutions concerning life were passed. Resolution 15, accepted artificial contraception under certain circumstances while Resolution 16 stated “The Conference further records its abhorrence of the sinful practice of abortion.”

In 1958, the Lambeth Conference authored the report “The Family in Contemporary Society.” This report was published by The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) in 1968 in the book What the Bishops Have Said about Marriage. On page 17, it states in discussing the status of the fetus that it “rejects the killing of life already conceived.” Furthermore in 1958, the Lambeth Conference was misinformed about population rates increasing so fast as to threaten the young and old. It accepted the population control movement’s propaganda and affirmed the need for family planning in Resolution 115.

This opened the door for the Episcopal Church in the United States to adopt a resolution entitled “Christian Marriage and Population Control” at the 1961 General Convention. In the third resolve of the resolution, it states “while condemning abortion and infanticide, we believe that methods of control which are medically endorsed and morally acceptable may help the people of these lands so to plan family life that children may be born without a likelihood of starvation and we approve the rendering by our Government of assistance to this end.” The 1964 General Convention also condemned abortion in a resolution endorsing family planning.

In 1966, The Rt. Reverend Joseph Harte, Bishop of Arizona started Episcopalians for Life because he saw that the Episcopal Church was beginning to adopt the teachings of the progressive modernists’ movement. His timing was right: at the next convention in 1967, a resolution was passed that permitted abortion when the health of the mother was in danger, the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest or when the child was thought to be ‘deformed in mind or body.’ In 1976, Resolution D095 expressed “its unequivocal opposition to any legislation on the part of the national or state governments which would abridge or deny the right of individuals to reach informed decisions in this matter and to act upon them.” Later in 1988 and 1994, abortion resolutions were also passed reinforcing a woman’s choice and opposition to any legislative limits on it for all nine months of a pregnancy. Ironically all the resolutions noted above acknowledge that life is sacred, and that it is a gift from God.

The Lambeth Conference went on in 1978 to pass Resolution 10 entitled “Human Relationships and Sexuality.” Section 2 states: “The Conference commends to the Church… the need for programmes at diocesan level, involving both men and women, (a) to promote the study and foster the ideals of Christian marriage and family life, and to examine the ways in which those who are unmarried may discover the fullness which God intends for all his children; (b) to provide ministries of compassionate support to those suffering from brokenness within marriage and family relationships; (c) to emphasize the sacredness of all human life, the moral issues inherent in clinical abortion, and the possible implications of genetic engineering.”

At the last Lambeth Conference in 1998, Resolution 1.14 states: “In light of the current debate and proposals for the legalization of Euthanasia in several countries, this Conference: (a) affirms that life is God-given and has intrinsic sanctity, significance and worth; (b) defines euthanasia as the act by which one person intentionally causes or assists in causing the death of another who is terminally or seriously ill in order to end the other’s pain and suffering; (c) resolves that euthanasia, as precisely defined, is neither compatible with the Christian faith nor should be permitted in civil legislation.”

Finally, in November 2006, history was made when Archbishop Rowan Williams and Pope Benedict XVI signed a “Common Declaration” that specifically states: “There are many areas of witness and service in which we can stand together, and which indeed call for closer co-operation between us: the pursuit of peace in the Holy Land and in other parts of the world marred by conflict and the threat of terrorism; promoting respect for life from conception until natural death; protecting the sanctity of marriage and the well-being of children in the context of healthy family life; outreach to the poor, oppressed and the most vulnerable, especially those who are persecuted for their faith; addressing the negative effects of materialism; and care for creation and for our environment.”

From this brief overview of the Anglican Communion’s position on life for the past 90 years, it is clear that the worldwide Anglican Church has maintained a closer position to the Biblical mandate to uphold the Sanctity of Life than the national U.S. Episcopal Church.