STATEMENT ON ABORTION

T he following statement on abortion was adopted by the 1981 General Council (Anaheim, California).

The church, as well as the general public, is confronted with the moral issue of abortion. Because of the importance of this issue to society, the General Council of The Christian and Missionary Alliance has chosen to make a statement concerning its position on the subject of abortion.

The moral issue of induced abortion ultimately involves a decision concerning those circumstances under which a human being may be permitted to take the life of another. We believe that life begins at conception and that this life is to be considered as human at that time.

The Christian and Missionary Alliance believes that abortion on demand is morally wrong. We cannot allow the current social climate of moral relativism and sexual permissiveness to dictate our responses to moral and social dilemmas.

The Word of God teaches that each individual is known by God from before the foundation of the world (Jeremiah 1:4–5, Psalm 139:13–17). Our Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God has pronounced His blessing upon the life of a child according to Psalm 127:3–5.

Since all life exists for God’s purposes and all human lives are equally sacred, it is our belief that the life of the unborn child is blessed of God and must be preserved and nurtured. The Christian and Missionary Alliance, therefore, is opposed to induced abortion.*

*Only in the rarest instances, when it is impossible to save the life of both the mother and the unborn child, should the question of an induced abortion be considered.