Lutherans’ Anti-Abortion Stand Lauded

A strong anti-abortion stand by the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination should help lead the country out of an “extremist morass” on the issue, the organization’s presiding bishop said this week.

But Bishop Herbert W. Chilstrom said it was unfortunate that New York’s Roman Catholic Cardinal John O’Connor had sent delegates a letter urging them to take a tough stance protecting “the unborn.”

“Other leaders of that church also say it was inappropriate,” Chilstrom said at a news conference after the convention of the 5.2-million-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ended.

“My guess is that Roman Catholics will read our statement and appreciate what we did. Friends in other churches will be impressed and say that’s good,” Chilstrom said.

Convention delegates declared abortion “an option only of last resort,” acceptable only when the mother’s life is endangered, the fetus is so abnormal it would soon die, or in cases of rape or incest.

“Lutherans have taken a step that should help lead the whole country out of the extremist morass of pro and con,” Chilstrom said. “It will have an impact far beyond our walls.”

Armed with the denomination’s first social policies since it was launched by merger in 1988, leaders said they expect the church to strengthen and grow more influential.

During the convention, the assembly urged an end to U.S. military aid to El Salvador and backed a negotiated peace there.

Delegates urged the U.S. government to aid the Baltic states, the Soviet Union and its republics “in this time of rapid economic and political change.”