Blessing an abortion clinic is ‘crazy faith’ indeed

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It’s no secret that some religious denominations support legal abortion. But it’s nothing short of grotesque when members of the clergy don their robes and stoles and lead a public blessing of abortion businesses.

This happened in 2015, when a group of mostly female clergy blessed the Preterm clinic in Cleveland, where just a year earlier, young mother Lakisha Wilson had a second-trimester abortion that killed her.

Now another “blessing” is planned for Nov. 9, this time outside Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio’s East Columbus Surgical Center.

An announcement from Planned Parenthood in conjunction with Rev. Susan K. Smith of Crazy Faith Ministries (I am not making this name up) notes that, “Many faith leaders and people of faith hold that accessing and providing abortions are good and godly decisions.”

“Good and godly”?

The announcement continues:

In celebration of conscience and moral decision making, this event will include interfaith blessings, prayers, and testimonies about receiving and providing abortion care. This clinic blessing will create space for progressive voices of faith to speak boldly in support of comprehensive reproductive health care, especially abortion.


The phrase “progressive voices of faith” has become something of an oxymoron, but it’s important to remember that misguided clergy were involved in efforts to legalize abortion in the 1970s. Some years ago, the National Pro-Life Religious Council, of which I serve as president, published a study called “Holy Abortion” to call attention to this.

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice was founded in 1973 by 10 denominations and faith groups. It described itself as “the interfaith movement for choice” and as the only national confederation of religious bodies that promotes pro-choice (that is, pro-abortion) policies. Nearly 40 national organizations from Christian and Jewish denominations, movements, and faith-based groups, as well as Unitarian, humanist, and ethical associations, made up its membership by the time our study was performed.

Its goals included articulating a “theology of choice” to guide individuals, politicians, and the media; promoting affordable abortion services and supporting abortion clinics; lobbying local, state, and national legislative bodies for unfettered access to abortion; mobilizing clergy to advocate for abortion in their congregations, communities, and local governments; and broadening the movement to focus on black and Latino churches and on youth.

The coalition still exists, with an office on K Street in Washington, D.C., but its influence is negligible. It is a favorite of National Public Radio, but its Facebook page is liked by fewer than 11,000 people, and its budget and expenses were under $1.5 million in 2016, according to its annual report.

But there’s another organization with an office in D.C. that is more worrisome than headline-hungry, abortion-loving clergy — the Democratic National Committee.

Democratic politicians might not stand outside abortion businesses to bless them, but they do funnel hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood annually, and they embrace a party platform that states: “We believe unequivocally … that every woman should have access to quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion …”

This is more grotesque, and much more consequential, than the “Crazy Faith” clergy cavorting in front of Planned Parenthood.

The Democrats’ love of abortion is so entrenched that when the House of Representatives voted on a bill that would require abortionists to provide life-saving care to those children who survive abortion, 183 Democrats voted against it.

This was not a bill to restrict access or to require abortionists to operate like every other healthcare professional in the U.S. This wasn’t about parental rights or offering mothers an opportunity to see their babies on ultrasound or hear their heartbeats. This bill said that if a baby survives an attempt on his or her life, that baby is entitled to medical care.

But the Democrats are so enamored of abortion, and the millions in donations they receive from Planned Parenthood, that they couldn’t even vote in favor of saving a newborn’s life.

So while it is disgusting to see those who describe themselves as “people of faith” blessing a business where babies are murdered every day, it is so much worse to continue to elect lawmakers who make this carnage possible.

On the ballot on Tuesday, there will be 166 Democrats who voted against the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act this year. Please make sure they are not re-elected.

Father Frank Pavone (@frfrankpavone) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the national director of Priests for Life.

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