The sinister cloud of abortion still hangs over Georgia. Not all pre-born children are safe in the womb. Chemical abortions, which represent over half of all abortions, are still legal in Georgia. Additionally, the current Living Infants Fairness and Equality (L.I.F.E) Act, the “Heartbeat” Law, doesn’t protect children before a heartbeat is detected. Compounding the problem is the fact that the determination of the heartbeat is left to the abortionist, who has a financial interest in not finding one. Further, the law contains exceptions.
To permanently rid the state of this evil will require a massive grass roots effort demanding that a Personhood amendment be added to the state constitution.
Such an amendment would pave the way for laws that would ensure that no innocent person could be legally killed in Georgia. It will provide protection, equal justice, and equal rights for all innocent human life at any stage of development, level of dependency, physical or mental ability, manner of conception, contributions to society, age, or race.
This vital effort will fail unless the church leads the way. Pastors must encourage their congregations to get involved. Tragically, Georgia churches are divided. Some pastors preach against abortion, while others actually support killing innocent children.
Still others simply avoid the issue altogether. Whether defending it, or avoiding it, these pastors have blood on their hands.
The following are examples of what some Georgia church leaders said after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church Senior Pastor Clay Smith praised the ruling. “This is a time when we need to be supporting our local crisis pregnancy centers. We need to be supporting adoption and foster care networks. We need to be befriending young mothers and fathers who feel they have no alternative in life but to rid the life of a child.”
Dr. Michael Lewis, lead pastor at Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta said, “We have prayed for this day for many years and God has heard our cry to end the legalization of the tragic and barbaric practice killing human life in the womb. Now is the time for the church to be the church and extend care and compassion for the most vulnerable.”
In stark contrast, U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, Senior Pastor at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, denounced the ruling. “I’m outraged by the Supreme Court’s decision. As a pro-choice pastor, I’ll never back down from this fight. Women must be able to make their own health care decisions, not politicians.”
His reaction is not surprising. Sen. Warnock, who is running for re-election, opposes any restrictions on abortion, opposes defunding Planned Parenthood, and opposes notifying parents if their minor child is seeking an abortion.
Pastor Jamal H. Bryant of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church of Lithonia, said the court’s ruling is “part of something satanic afoot in Washington, D. C.” He made the remark before calling up several parents to anoint their toddlers.
Dr. Sammie J. Dow, Senior Pastor at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Marietta, said, “I stand firmly on the side of women and their freedom to make the critically important decisions regarding their lives, their health and their bodies…We cannot determine public policy based on the faith of one demographic of the country.”
Rev. Joe Evans, Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Marietta, said he fears the decision will “usher in a new age of desperate women denied safe options. To me the lives of those women are sacred too.”
Nationally, the Episcopal House of Deputies said, “All Episcopalians should be able to access abortion and birth control with no restriction.” They even adopted a resolution denouncing the work of Crisis Pregnancy Centers, and apologized for supporting them in the past.
Then there are the many pastors who remain silent about abortion. Primarily driven by fear of offending their congregations, they ignore the Biblical warning that not doing what they know they should do is a sin (James 4:17).
Church leaders who support abortion, as well as those who avoid the issue, have blood on their hands. Black women are disproportionately affected by not hearing the truth. A Pew Research Center survey in 2021 found that of black women who attend church at least a few times a year, only 22% said they heard a sermon on abortion, compared to 34% of all church goers.
Until every pastor, regardless of denomination, joins the effort to mobilize their congregations, pre-born children will continue to die. They will be denied their God-given right to Personhood.
Their silence will fulfill the pronouncement made by Jesus that a house divided against itself cannot stand (Luke 11:17, Mark 3:25, Matthew 12:25).
The innocent desperately need your help. If your pastor never addresses the issue of abortion, please consider sharing this article with him and urge him to take a stand.
For more information on how you can help pass the Personhood amendment to the State Constitution, please visit: https://www.grtlpetitions.online/ and sign the petition.
Sources: ajc.com; capitalbnews.org.
By Wayne DuBois
Georgia Right to Life
Media Relations Advisor