Over the past year, several states have passed laws that place extreme restrictions on a pregnant person’s legal ability to obtain an abortion. Most recently, the Texas state legislature passed SB8, the country’s most restrictive abortion law banning abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy regardless of rape or incest. This law not only allows private citizens to sue abortion providers and anyone who helps a pregnant person obtain an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy but offers a $10,000 reward to the plaintiff if the defendant is deemed guilty. This law and many others restrict access to safe reproductive health care as well. These laws unlawfully contradict the historic Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, which confirmed a pregnant person’s constitutional right to choose whether or not to terminate during the early months of their pregnancy. This decision was pivotal in advancing reproductive rights and exemplified reproductive justice for the first time in our nation’s history. Birthing people have a right to bodily autonomy and unrestricted access to comprehensive health care. These recent laws pose a direct threat to those rights. At the 220th General Assembly in 2012, Presbyterians affirmed policy on reproductive justice, citing that we believe states should not be involved in creating hurdles to accessing abortion. The policy specifically states, “no law should impose criminal penalties against any [person] who chooses or physician who performs a medically safe abortion…, and no law should sanction any action intended to harm or harass those persons contemplating or deciding to have an abortion.” The church recognizes that life is precious to God, and we should preserve and protect it. The church also supports a pregnant person’s right to make reproductive choices and have full access to quality reproductive healthcare. [1] When a pregnant person faces the difficult decision of whether to terminate a pregnancy, the issue is deeply personal and may not fit neatly into medical or legal guidelines.[2] It is not the position of the church or state to subvert that person’s right to make decisions about their own body. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has long held that “God alone is Lord of the conscience” and has endowed all humans with the moral agency to make choices.[3] This is no less true for those making decisions about whether and when to have children. The 182nd General Assembly of 1970 affirmed that “the artificial or induced termination of a pregnancy is a matter of careful ethical decision of the patient … and therefore should not be restricted by law.”[4] We urge Presbyterians everywhere to affirm that which our church believes and tell your members of Congress to prioritize a proactive abortion agenda ASAP. Congress must step in with comprehensive abortion protections. A proactive abortion agenda would ensure that everyone, regardless of race, gender identity, age, income, ZIP code, insurance status, disability status, sexuality, and more would have equitable access to abortion care. [5] The Presbyterian Church celebrates the diversity of all genders and recognizes that access to full reproductive healthcare is a right deserved by anyone who bears children. Bodily autonomy is a basic human right that cannot be silenced nor legislated away for any person.
[1] Statement on Late-Term Problem Pregnancies by the 217th General Assembly (2006) [2] Minutes of the 217th General Assembly (2006) p. 905 [3]Statement on Late-Term Problem Pregnancies by the 217th General Assembly (2006) [4] Minutes of the 182nd General Assembly (1970) p. 891 [5] Center for American Progress | 
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