Featured Baptist History and Abortion Views

In the Billy Graham thread I posted a link to Billy Graham’s abortion views in the 1960s (which he may or may not have changed later). Jerome objected to the source, but offered no reason that Graham’s views were misrepresented. I do not think he was misrepresented for his views held then. For example, in 1970 ‘Christians for Life’ picketed a Billy Graham crusade because “Graham, although opposed to abortion in most cases, was willing to permit it in cases of rape and incest, as well as when the mother’s life was in danger.”

Recently I have read some articles online that incline one to think that Baptists generally were not opposed to abortion until much later than after the Roe v. Wade decision. (For example, think Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority in 1979.) Certain accurate historical facts may be pushed forward to highlight this scenario. I do not think all the facts support that conclusion. For this reason I think a thread relating to the topic of abortion in Baptist history might be apropos.

(In January of 1973, I was a freshman in High School. Such religious, moral, and legal decisions were not in the forefront of my interests, and my memory has no recollection of how our local Baptist received the news of Roe v. Wade.)

 

The Supreme Court issued its decision on abortion in Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973. The majority vote was 7-to-2 in favor of Roe/abortion. Justices Byron White and William Rehnquist dissented. Richard Nixon, the President of the U.S. at the time, did not publicly comment about the decision. Strangely, from our current vista, but perhaps not for the times, representatives in the Southern Baptist Convention’s Baptist Press welcomed the decision. W. Barry Garrett wrote, “Religious liberty, human equality and justice are advanced by the Supreme Court abortion decision.” (“High Court Holds Abortion To Be ‘A Right of Privacy’,” January 31, 1973, as cited in Baptist Press Initial Reporting on Roe v. Wade by Trevin Wax) Marie Griffith, in “Southern Baptists, Gender Hierarchy, and the Road to Trump,” says that Baptists in the late 1960’s and early 70’s “certainly appeared to see abortion as a women’s issue. When the Supreme Court decriminalized abortion in 1973’s Roe v Wade decision, Southern Baptist leaders appeared to support access to abortion, at least under circumstances with which they could sympathize.” This probably should not be surprising given that at their meeting in St. Louis, Missouri in 1971, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution included calling “upon Southern Baptists to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.”

 

SBC Resolution On Abortion, St. Louis, Missouri, 1971:
WHEREAS, Christians in the American society today are faced with difficult decisions about abortion; and

WHEREAS, Some advocate that there be no abortion legislation, thus making the decision a purely private matter between a woman and her doctor; and

WHEREAS, Others advocate no legal abortion, or would permit abortion only if the life of the mother is threatened;

Therefore, be it RESOLVED, that this Convention express the belief that society has a responsibility to affirm through the laws of the state a high view of the sanctity of human life, including fetal life, in order to protect those who cannot protect themselves; and

Be it further RESOLVED, That we call upon Southern Baptists to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.

[Note: Wm. Robert Johnston archives all the Southern Baptist Convention resolutions on abortion through 2009 HERE. These and more recent resolutions can be located on the SBC website by entering “abortion” in the Resolutions Search.

 

As might be expected, some of the Northern Baptists were leaders for abortion reform (aka legalization of abortion in cases of rape, incest, or danger to a woman’s health). One of them in the late 1960’s was Howard Moody, who was the pastor of Judson Memorial Church in New York, an American Baptist congregation. (Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-life Movement Before Roe v. Wade, Daniel K. Williams, 2016, pp. 65-66)

In what appears to be an older but officially current statement, American Baptists opposed abortion “as a means of avoiding responsibility for conception” and “as a primary means of birth control,” but stopped far short of a blanket condemnation of abortion. The full statement may be found HERE.

 

In contrast to the pro-abortion emphasis, other Baptists opposed abortion both before and immediately after Roe. “The fundamental Baptist evangelist John R. Rice declared in 1945 that abortion, which he considered ‘the murder of the little one where conception has already taken place,’ was ‘a crime prohibited by law and condemned by all decent people’.”

Carl F. H. Henry, a Baptist whose roots were in the Northern Baptist Convention, in Eternity magazine in 1971 called abortion “murder.” One opponent of the Roe decision whose opposition began almost immediately was Jesse Helms, a Southern Baptist who was a freshman senator from North Carolina.

(Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-life Movement Before Roe v. Wade, Daniel K. Williams, 2016, pp. 145, 213)

 

Providing the full interview was nice, but you also complained about the source where the excerpt was provided, which seemed to imply they might be mistaken. Perhaps I misread your intent.

Firing Line with William F. Buckley, Jr., Episode 153, Recorded on June 12, 1969

 

Correct, resolutions are just statements of the belief and opinion of the messengers of the particular convention that passes it.

My guess is that this 1971 resolution was drawn up by someone in the moderate wing of the Convention, who were in control of things at that time. I think looking at the resolutions of the SBC to the present show a change across the years as to how abortion is viewed by the messengers of the Convention.

 

I put the OP in the Baptist History forum for the (hopeful) purpose of discussing how Baptists have viewed this in history rather than having a debate about abortion. It's a free country and you guys are free to discuss what you will, but as for my part I'd like to focus on the Baptist history connection.

 

I have run across this Jerry Falwell comment (dated 1979) referenced several times online, but I haven't found any who gave the source:

Without any context, it seems to imply that Baptists had not previously opposed abortion to any extent. I suspect, but can't be sure, thathis statement 6 years after Roe v. Wade is about Baptists not engaging this in the political realm and he & the Moral Majority would begin doing.

 

That would certainly imply that Criswell would have supported the 1971 resolution! And we wouldn't say he represented the moderate wing of the Convention.

 

Converge (formerly Baptist General Conference) resolutions, including two on abortion:
https://converge.org/files/ww/resource/document/2012-07-19-resolutions.pdf

1971:
Being very much aware of the current concern about the liberalization of existing laws related
to abortion; and, recognizing the necessity of periodic reevaluation of laws which are so
intimately related to human well-being; Be it resolved that: We exhort our people to be guided
by these basic Christian principles as they relate themselves to the controversy and concern
surrounding the abortion problem:
1. The Stewardship of Life
Human life is a gift from God and as such is a sacred trust. In those areas of human experience where life is so basically involved such as conception and abortion we ought always to be governed by our awareness of the sacredness of life; and,
2. Individual Responsibility
We as Christians ought not to regard abortion as a means of evading individual responsibility; and,
3. Christian Morality
Since many abortions are sought as a result of an immoral sexual relationship, we must submit that the most effective solution to the abortion problem is the revival of the Christian concept of morality wherein the fruits of sexual relationships are accepted as a trust from God and not an inconvenience to be disposed of; and,
4. The Christian community should respond in sympathetic understanding to the individuals immediately involved, whatever action is taken in regard to abortion.