Approved unanimously on September 13, 2022 by the Governing Board of the North Carolina Council of Churches
Whereas, in 1970, before the Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that the U.S. Constitution protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to obtain an abortion without excessive government restriction, the North Carolina Council of Churches had urged faith communities, faith leaders, physicians, and hospitals to support the right of a woman to end a “problem pregnancy” by “therapeutic abortion” (“A Resolution Concerning Therapeutic Abortion,” The 33rd Annual Assembly of the North Carolina Council of Churches, April 28, 1970, Greensboro, N.C.).
And whereas, this statement arose from the knowledge that abortion is as old as pregnancy and that without legal protection those who most desperately need to end a pregnancy will be forced into situations that are hazardous, expensive, and time consuming, we have noted with increasing concern the regressive legislation enacted in North Carolina over the past decade that severely limits options for reproductive decision making and makes the decision to terminate a pregnancy an arduous course.
And whereas, a decision from the Supreme Court in June 2022 is poised to alter the landscape as we have known it since 1973,
Be it resolved that the Governing Board of the North Carolina Council of Churches reaffirms our commitments from 1970. Reproductive choice is a healthcare decision and women should make those decisions “without embarrassment, excessive cost, and unwarranted delay.” We stand by those words today.
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