Liberal church body urges funding abortions for 'pregnant people,' singles out Clarence Thomas for rebuke

A liberal mainline Protestant denomination recently passed a measure condemning the Supreme Court's decision last year in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Delegates with the United Church of Christ (UCC) also voted during their 34th General Synod earlier this month to call on the denomination to financially support abortion access in the measure titled "Denouncing the Dobbs Decision and Proclaiming Abortion as Healthcare."

The measure passed with 611 delegates voting in favor, 24 against and 13 abstaining, according to the UCC's website.

The resolution claimed that "a majority of Americans support legal abortion in all or most cases" and that state laws restricting abortion threaten "the lives of pregnant people," as well as "deepen unequal access to comprehensive reproductive care" for minorities.

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The resolution blasted Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, claiming his "concurring opinion in Dobbs threatens constitutional protection for access to contraception, as well as protection for same-sex sexual relations and marriage."

The resolution expressed support for "resisting by peaceful means, including civil disobedience, any laws banning abortions, and calls upon every setting of the United Church of Christ to use Just Peace practices to confront abortion bans and restrictions on reproductive healthcare."

The church's resolution also called on the United Church Board Ministerial Assistance to "provide emergency grants to any UCC Medical beneficiaries and other eligible applicants to cover out-of-pocket costs and travel costs incurred by accessing care not available in their home state."

"[We call] upon Local Churches, Associations, and Conferences to physically, financially, and spiritually accompany people seeking and receiving abortions and other reproductive healthcare, in partnership with local healthcare agencies and abortion fund," the resolution said.

An earlier version of the resolution also invoked the virgin birth of Jesus Christ to defend abortion.

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"[We proclaim] that Mary’s informed, joyful choice to bear a child is the first act of Christian discipleship, and that forced birth is an act of sexual violence antithetical to the incarnation and the choice to have and care for children is a sacred decision which should not be forced upon anyone," the original text of the measure said, which was apparently later struck from the final text.

The Rev. Dakota Roberts, who serves as associate pastor at St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Carmel, Indiana, noted in a press release from the UCC that they are "a denomination founded on the principles of covenant and autonomy."

"As sanctuary churches house refugees and immigrants from deportation, so now, too, the United Church of Christ encourages churches to love, support and exist as a sanctuary for individuals seeking access to safe abortions," Roberts said.

The UCC, which was founded in 1957 by historically Reformed Congregationalist churches, has been hemorrhaging members in recent years, losing more than 280,000 congregants from 2012 to 2022, as reported by the Christian Post. Former President Barack Obama is among notable persons to have been a member of a UCC congregation.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the UCC for comment but did not receive a response by time of publication.