1998 Statement – PC(USA), pp. 685-686
The 210th General Assembly (1998) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
1. Affirm[s] that all physicians, midwives, and nurse-practitioners who offer reproductive care have a moral obligation and a fiduciary responsibility to advise all new patients who are pregnant or who may become pregnant, of their willingness or unwillingness to provide all legal procedures in their practice of reproductive care, including elective abortion.
2004 Statement – PC(USA), pp. 809-810
Resolution on Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse Against Educators
The 216th General Assembly (2004) approved the following:
The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) recommends that the 216th General Assembly (2004) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approve the following:
1. Approve the Resolution on Allegations of Child Sexual Abuse Against Educators, receive the full rationale, and encourage their churchwide study.
The 213th General Assembly (2001) approves the following resolution with comment:
[The 195th General Assembly (1983)] recognize[d] that the issue of teenage pregnancy and premarital sexual activity is sometimes confused with the abortion issue itself . . . . We express our concern by requesting the appropriate agency, pursue a study of teenage sexuality and responsibilities in light of the covenant of creation.
p. 364
THE COVENANT OF LIFE AND THE CARING COMMUNITY
OPTIONS AND INTEGRITY AT THE BEGINNING OF LIFE
[The General Assembly] . . . urges that informed consent be required from all participants in contraceptive and fertility drug experimentation and states emphatically that racial ethnic, poor, and Third World women should not be used as guinea pigs for drugs deemed too risky for testing in affluent United States communities.
p. 367
COVENANT AND CREATION: THEOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS
ON CONTRACEPTION AND ABORTION
[The General Assembly called for a continuation of U.S. family planning services for the poor through Title X of the Public Health Service Act, noting that] . . . to be fair, family planning programs must provide not only information about limiting family size, but also provide the services to enable the poor as well as the rich to have real freedom of choice to do it. . . . Unwanted and mistimed childbearing still presents a serious problem for many residents in the country, particularly the young.
[the 204th General Assembly (1992):]
4. Affirm[s] that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) stands opposed to both pornography and censorship and that it encourages Presbyterians to participate in organizations committed to protecting First Amendment rights, as outlined in Pornography: Far From the Song of Songs. (It is the finding of this report that Presbyterians should oppose pornography as defined by the report and support constitutional protection of free speech. Presbyterians may well oppose a form of expression while supporting the freedom to express.)
5. Affirm that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) stands opposed to both pornography and censorship and encourages Presbyterians to participate in organizations committed to protecting First Amendment rights, as outlined in this report.
8. Encourage Presbyterians to offer support and counsel to persons who believe they have been victimized in any way by pornography and to communicate with members of Congress in support of Pornography Victims Protection legislation . . .
Therefore, the 196th General Assembly (1984):
1. Directs the Stated Clerk to notify the President of the United States that it is the desire of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to have the laws related to obscenity enforced by the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Attorneys, the U.S. Postal Service, the Commerce Department, and the Customs Department, and that the PCUSA is supportive of current efforts to include obscenity under the R.I.C.O. Statutes. (R.I.C.O. Statutes: Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statues currently cover obscenity. . . .)
The 189th General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America does hereby resolve to take a public stand against the use of pornography and violence in the media and to reinforce the dignity of human beings, and thereby strengthen the Christian faith. . . .