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 219th
General Assembly
2010
Click here
for our index page on GA 2010 |
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Committee 19: Health Issues
If you have comments on these issues, or
material you would like us to post here,
please send a note, and if possible we will add it to this page. |
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An introductory look at some issues coming to this committee
[6-10-10]
Click on
any Item number to jump to the full text on the PC-BIZ website.
Two overtures have been submitted which are apparently intended to oppose
abortion, not in terms of the “rights of the fetus,” but specifically as it
is linked in some cases to violence against or intimidation of women who are
pregnant.
Item 19-03, On Making a Statement Regarding Violence Against Pregnant
Women, from Boise Presbytery, calls on the 219th Assembly to
“condemn assaults, attempts, and actual acts of pressure, force, violence,
and coercion upon a pregnant female, especially where the activity inflicts
mental or physical injury or death on the pregnant female.” Women are
depicted in the overture as weak, often victimized, and powerless to make
choices of their own. They may be forced into having abortions by those who
want to “destroy evidence of child molestation or incestuous activities; ...
eliminate personal responsibilities or inconvenience to the perpetrator’s
lifestyle; dislike for biracial unborn children; or desire to destroy
pregnant females.” The overture would call on the Stated Clerk to urge
federal and state legislatures “to adopt legislation that recognizes the
special vulnerability of pregnant females and to protect them from assaults,
attempts and acts of force, coercion, and violence, that inflict physical or
mental injury, or death, on the pregnant female.”
Item 19-04, from Prospect Hill Presbytery, similarly views women as
victims, calling on the Assembly “to declare that we stand with all women
against the injustice of any forced or coerced abortions.” Arguing that “a
high percentage (64%) of abortions are NOT the woman’s choice,” but are
forced upon them by others, this overture also contends that women having
abortions must be protected against these forms of “violence and injustice.”
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While the church needs to stand against any form of
coercion against women, the PC(USA) also needs to stand by its policy
that women are competent moral agents who can be trusted to make their
own reproductive decisions. |
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GA actions
ratified (or not) by the presbyteries
A number of the most important actions of the 219th
General Assembly are now being sent to the presbyteries for their
action, to confirm or reject them as amendments to the PC(USA) Book
of Order.
We're providing resources to help inform the
reflection and debate, along with updates on the voting.
Our three areas of primary interest are:
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Amendment 10-A,
which would remove the current ban on
lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender persons being considered as
possible candidates for ordination as elder or ministers. |
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Amendment 10-2,
which would add the Belhar Confession to our Book of
Confessions. |
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Amendment
10-1, which would adopt the new Form of Government
that was approved by the Assembly. |
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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