Letter to the editor
Methodist student finds error in statement of abortion positions

While perusing the TCU Daily Skiff on Friday, I was extremely unprepared for the significant doctrinal error found in the article “Playing God?” by Yvette Herrera.

Herrera stated: “ The United Methodist Church is part of the permissive group [on the issue of abortion], and they believe a person is not really a person unless someone loves and cares for them,” Hill said. “In some cases it is better for a child not to be born if they are not going to be cared for..”

As a rather conservative member of the United Methodist Church, I could not believe what I was reading. The United Methodist Book of Discipline clearly states the church’s belief on the issue of abortion:

“The beginning of life and the ending of life are the God-given boundaries of human existence. Our belief in the sanctity of unborn human life makes us reluctant to approve abortion. But we are equally bound to respect the sacredness of the life and well-being of the mother, for whom devastating damage may result from an unacceptable pregnancy.

“In continuity with past Christian teaching, we recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion, and in such cases we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures. We cannot affirm abortion as an acceptable means of birth control, and we unconditionally reject it as a means of gender selection. We oppose the use of late-term abortion known as dilation and extraction (partial-birth abortion) and call for the end of this practice except when the physical life of the mother is in danger and no other medical procedure is available or in the case of severe fetal anomalies incompatible with life.”

The United Methodist view is not permissive. If anything, it is a conservative moderate view. The first line clearly states the sanctity my church holds for unborn life. When researching an article of doctrine, reporters should remember to get sound doctrine from the source of the church rather than incorrect information — even if it does come from a professor of religion.

It is appalling that this article gives my church, a rather large community of Christians worldwide, an extremely erroneous reputation for believing in the nonsense that someone is not a person unless another loves and cares for them.

— Abby Parker
junior English and religion major

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