Friday, May 23, 2014

Liberal Clergy to Obama: U.S. Must Pay for Abortions

Dozens of American religious leaders are urging President Obama to ignore a long-standing law and begin using tax dollars to fund foreign "safe" abortions.  The clergy say that just as Jesus Christ was compassionate, the American government must also be compassionate, by killing innocent children of foreign mothers.

For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Liberal 'Church' Sues North Carolina to Overturn God's Decree

New York Methodist Bishop Allows Same-sex Marriages

UCC Supervisor Bans Jesus & Bible from VA Chaplains

Liberal 'Churches' Conforming to Decadent Culture

President Obama's National Cathedral is the Seat of Apostasy

-- From "Faith Leaders Urge Obama To Allow Safe Abortion Services In U.S. Funded Health Clinics Abroad" by Yasmine Hafiz, The Huffington Post 5/14/14

The letter [to President Obama], coordinated by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and the Center for Health and Gender Equity, specifically brought attention to the Helms amendment. The Helms amendment is a provision which prevents the funding of abortion services when used as a means of family planning, but does not prohibit U.S. financial assistance with abortion in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment.

“For many women in dire situations abroad, US-funded programs are the best—and in many situations the only—option they have for receiving safe reproductive healthcare," said Rev. Harry Knox, President/CEO of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, in a press release sent to the Huffington Post. "In our view, turning away these women in need when we could so easily help them violates one of our most basic religious values: compassion. At the very least, the administration should follow the existing the law and abandon the current practice of denying women access to abortion even in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is at stake.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Faith leaders urge Obama to axe law restricting US abortion aid" by Liz Ford, UK Guardian 5/15/14


More than 30 US faith-based groups are calling on Barack Obama to clarify then repeal a law that restricts aid funding for abortion services.

The [Helms] amendment, introduced in 1973, bans US aid money being used to fund abortion as a method of family planning or to "motivate or coerce any person to practise abortions". But under the law, money can be used to pay for terminations in cases of rape and incest, or when a woman's life is in danger.

However, the law has been widely interpreted as a total ban on funding for abortion services, regardless of circumstance and even in countries where terminations are legal.

The groups describe the continued ambiguity as immoral.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Obama Admin May Try to Break Law to Directly Fund Abortions Overseas" by Austin Ruse, LifeNews.com 5/15/14

The change has not been made yet as the administration is trying to figure out how best to go about what could be a highly controversial change to the U.S. law which has stood for almost half a century.

The pressure for such a change is coming from outside the administration but no doubt is finding sympathetic ears in an administration that has worked hard to advance a right to abortion through the UN.

C-Fam, publisher of the Friday Fax, issued a memo to members of Congress last week explaining why overturning even a part of the Helms Amendment is a dangerous idea.

The memo points out that abortions in unsanitary conflict situations would place the mother to increased health risks, and that abortion funding will divert greatly needed funds from other more pressing areas including basic medical care.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Clerics Urge Obama to Unilaterally Overturn 41-Year Overseas Abortion Ban" by Tatiana Lozano, CNSNews.com 5/22/14

A coalition of abortion rights advocates, including 21 clergy members, signed a May 4th petition by the Center for Health and Gender Equality (CHANGE), calling on President Obama “to use [his] executive authority to end the longstanding misinterpretation of the Helms amendment” and “clarify existing law so that in the cases of rape, incest and life endangerment, U.S. foreign assistance is allowed to support abortion access.”

. . . when CNSNews.com contacted the clerics to ask how the law could have been "misinterpreted" for 41 years,  only a few were willing to elaborate on the document they signed.  And only one responded to a question about whether Obama has the legal authority to issue an executive order that unilaterally overrides an Act of Congress.

Rev. Jan Taddeo, a Unitarian Universalist minister who also signed the petition, called the amendment “vague and subjective” in an email response to CNSNews.com’s questions. She also maintained that such foreign aid would help rape and abuse victims in war-torn areas, stating that this was “consistent with...other areas of U.S. law” regarding domestic exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

To read the entire article above, including a list of signatories to the petition, CLICK HERE.