EDITORIAL "Holy Abortion" and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.(Editorial)

That pro-abortionists fly under false colors is hardly news. That they have coropted many institutions is not a state secret. But the extent to which they misuse and misrepresent the prestige afforded by their various associations is a much under-reported story.

A small book, "Holy Abortion?: A Theological Critique of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice" does an exquisite job of explicating the "yawning gap" (as one reviewer put it) that exists between the abortion position espoused by the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) and various mainstream religious denominations who list themselves as supporters of RCRC.

Like NARAL, RCRC has gone through a name change. Founded in 1973, it was then known as the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights.

But whatever the name, what gives RCRC its influence (as authors Professor Michael J. Gorman and Ann Loar Brooks write) is that "Nearly 40 national organizations from Christian and Jewish denominations, movements, and faith-based groups, as well as Unitarian, humanist and ethical associations, now make up its membership."

Among that group the real muscle is provided by four mainline Protestant denominations - - the Episcopal Church (USA), the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church.

For those of us who belong to one of these denominations, it is a constant source of irritation and spiritual exasperation that they are yoked to an organization for which there is no such thing as an unacceptable abortion. At the least a trial separation is in order, in anticipation of a final parting of the ways.

Holy Abortion? is a project of the National Pro-Life Religious Council, an organization of pro-life leaders from a number of religious denominations determined to strengthen the pro-life witness with these denominations. That can mean anything from shoring up an already firm foundation to essentially building one from scratch.