Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the ethics and policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, held little back this week when it was reported that some Christian clergy gathered to “bless” a Maryland abortion clinic.
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Moore tweeted, “This is revolting” along with the link to a Washington Post article titled, “Clergy Gather to Bless One of the Only U.S. Clinics Performing Late-Term Abortions.”
The article noted that four Christian pastors and one rabbi assembled to sprinkle water inside clinic rooms and to offer a blessing to the women who would visit the clinic to terminate their pregnancies.
This is revolting.
Clergy gather to bless one of the only U.S. clinics performing late-term abortions https://t.co/dcCKZS4YEo
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) January 31, 2018
“God of grace and God of glory, in whom we move and live,” the Rev. Carlton Veazey, a Baptist preacher, said during his prayer, imploring God to help the doctors who work at the clinic. “Keep them safe and keep them strong. And may they always know that all that they do is for Thy glory.”
Veazey went on to say that the Supreme Court affirmed a women’s right to abortion when it legalized the procedure in 1973, but he said that God “had already done” the same, as the Almighty “affirms a woman’s moral agency.”
And the Rev. Cari Jackson honored both the women who would come in as well as the clinic itself.
We've now blessed three #abortion clinics — Cleveland's @PretermMAML in October 2015, @PPMW_DC in January 2017 and https://t.co/RCIA3bMWen in Md. yesterday. #blessthisclinic. https://t.co/BZO2FgymN6 pic.twitter.com/WLF8rJ1CgT
— Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (@RCRChoice) January 30, 2018
“We give honor to all of these women who choose to come to this space,” Jackson said. “We sanctify this space, and we honor this as holy.”
The clinic belongs to well-known late-term abortion doctor LeRoy Carhart, who told The Washington Post that he is a person of faith who has stopped going to church over fears for his safety.
While blessing a clinic w/us, Rabbi Charles Fineberg recalled a former congregant in Vancouver, an abortion provider violently attacked because of his work. #blessthisclinic https://t.co/rZgFVrDiCD pic.twitter.com/paKP2tnHCQ
— Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (@RCRChoice) January 30, 2018
He also said that many of the women who come to him do so because their unborn babies are medically unviable.
“They’ll sit on the table and say, ‘Is God going to forgive me?’” he said. “I’ll say, ‘I take it you’ve prayed a lot about this.’ They all say yes.”
At yesterday's ceremony proclaiming the sacredness of Dr. LeRoy Carhart's clinic, @DrWillieParker told his colleague, "If I stand tall, it's because I stand on your shoulders." #blessthisclinic https://t.co/BZO2FgPXEE pic.twitter.com/eClUKMUCte
— Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (@RCRChoice) January 30, 2018
But Father Frank Pavone, the National Director of Priests for Life, said that late-term abortions are relatively easy to get, regardless of whether viability is the core issue of concern.
“Women can call certain abortion clinics and say they are 30 weeks pregnant, fully healthy, and carrying a healthy baby, and still get an appointment to have that baby killed,” he told Life Site News. “For clergy to say that is OK qualifies them as false prophets.”