Originally published 17 May, 2019; updated 23 February, 2024
Clergy throughout The Episcopal Church counsel those in their care who struggle with issues relating to infertility, family planning, pregnancy, childbirth, and adoption. Our ordained and lay leaders walk alongside Episcopalians and others who struggle with this intimate and sacred aspect of human life. Over the past several decades, the General Convention has addressed the topic of abortion, reproductive rights, and family planning from a position informed by this ministry and personal lived experience of clergy and laity within their own families. As a result, the General Convention of The Episcopal Church recognizes the moral, legal, personal, and societal complexities of decisions relating to reproductive rights, health, and the creation of families. The diversity of views within the Church represents our common struggle to understand and discern this issue.
The Episcopal Church teaches that “all human life is sacred. Hence, it is sacred from its inception until death. The Church takes seriously its obligation to help form the consciences of its members concerning this sacredness. Human life, therefore, should be initiated only advisedly and in full accord with this understanding of the power to conceive and give birth which is bestowed by God.” Our liturgical text Enriching Our Worship calls for great pastoral sensitivity to the needs of women, others who give birth, and all involved in decisions relating to “abortion, or mishaps of pregnancy and infertility.” This ministry is particularly important in situations that result in the loss of a pregnancy or inability to become pregnant and as a Church, we have experienced that all of these have “a tragic dimension.”
In a series of statements over the past decades, the Church has declared that “we emphatically oppose abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection, or any reason of mere convenience.” At the same time, since 1967, The Episcopal Church has maintained 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 [about the termination of pregnancy] and to act upon them.”
The Church urges dioceses and congregations “to give necessary aid and support to all pregnant women.” General Convention “commends the work and mission of pregnancy care centers which stress unconditional love and acceptance, for women and their unborn children.” We have urged support of “local pregnancy care centers” that “develop an outreach of love to pregnant women and to mothers and their children.”
At the General Convention in 2018, The Episcopal Church called for “women’s reproductive health and reproductive health procedures to be treated as all other medical procedures.” The Convention declared “that equitable access to women’s health care, including women’s reproductive health care, is an integral part of a woman’s struggle to assert her dignity and worth as a human being.”
We continue to advocate that “legislating abortions will not address the root of the problem. We therefore express our deep conviction that any proposed legislation on the part of national or state governments regarding abortions must take special care to see that the individual conscience is respected, and that the responsibility of individuals to reach informed decisions in this matter is acknowledged and honored as the position of this Church.”
The Church also sees education as an essential component of engaging with issues relating to family planning, child spacing, adoption, infertility and abortion. The global Anglican Communion, of which The Episcopal Church is a member, first supported the use of contraceptives in 1930, and as Christians we affirm responsible family planning.
The Episcopal Church recognizes the challenges of infertility, and since 1982, we have supported in vitro fertilization (IVF). The Church acknowledges that surrogacy is a complex issue, with the potential for exploitation of surrogates. The Church calls for moral discernment for all involved.
General Convention policy states “it is the responsibility of our congregations to assist their members in becoming informed concerning the spiritual, physiological and psychological aspects of sex and sexuality.” The Book of Common Prayer affirms that “the birth of a child is a joyous and solemn occasion in the life of a family. It is also an occasion for rejoicing in the Christian community” (p 440).
_________
General Convention Resolutions
1976-D095 – Reaffirm the 1967 General Convention Statement on Abortion
1982-B009 – Reaffirm the Church’s Guidelines on the Termination of Pregnancy
1982-D016 – Reaffirm the Right to the Use of Artificial Conception Control
1982-A065 – Condemn Use of Abortion for Gender Selection and Non-serious Abnormalities
1982-A067: Approve Use of “In Vitro” Fertilization
1988-D124 – Condemn Acts of Violence Against Abortion Facilities and Their Clients
1988-C047 – Adopt a Statement on Childbirth and Abortion
1988-A089 – Promote Use of Materials on Human Sexuality and Abortion for All Age Groups
1991-C037 – Oppose Legislation Requiring Parental Consent for Termination of Pregnancy
1991-A096 – Continue Discussion on the Use of Fetal Tissue for Research Use
1994-D105 – Commend the Work of Pregnancy Care Centers
1994-D091 – Deplore Practice of Forced Abortions and Sterilization in China
1994-A054 – Reaffirm General Convention Statement on Childbirth and Abortion
1994-D009 – Reaffirm Family Planning and Control of Global Population Growth
1997-D065 – Express Grave Concern Over Misuse of Partial Birth Abortion
2000-D104 – Affirm Adoption and Support Legislation on Adoption Counseling
2018-D032 – Equal Access to Health Care Regardless of Gender
2022-D049: Support of Public Policies for Adequate Surrogacy Protections
2022-D083 – Addressing the erosion of reproductive rights and autonomy
Resolves of the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church
Opposition to the Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, 1981
Affirmation of the International Conference on Population and Development, 2004