The Episcopal Church Welcomes You . . . Unless You’re Pro-Life

The Episcopal Church likes to pat itself on the back for being oh-so tolerant and inclusive. But that inclusiveness has not extended to pro-life people for many years. Pro-lifers and their consciences have been thrown under the bus and run over repeatedly by such outrages as TEC’s support of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

Now it seems in at least some parishes, the disdain for pro-lifers is personal:

Abby Johnson, the former Planned Parenthood clinic director whose about-face on abortion prompted her to resign her job, says she's gotten flack for her decision from an unexpected quarter: her own church.

Her Oct. 6 decision to leave Planned Parenthood in Bryan, Texas - after viewing an ultrasound-guided abortion of a 13-week-old fetus two weeks earlier - made headlines, especially when she ended up volunteering at the Coalition for Life center a few doors away. Her former employer filed a restraining order to silence Mrs. Johnson, but a judge threw out the case on Tuesday.

Now she is facing a different kind of music at her parish, St. Francis Episcopal in nearby College Station, the home of Texas A&M University.

Whereas clergy and parishioners welcomed her as a Planned Parenthood employee, now they are buttonholing her after Sunday services.

"Now that I have taken this stand, some of the people there are not accepting of that," she told The Washington Times. "People have told me they disagree with my choice. One of the things I've been told is that as Episcopalians, we embrace our differences and disagreements. While I agree with that, I am not sure I can go to a place where I don't feel I am welcome."

The rector at St. Francis refused to comment on the charge of nonacceptance.

Just like he refuses to speak up against all sorts of evil, I’m sure.

In the Episcopal Church, evil is treated as good and good is treated as evil. “Tolerance” and “inclusiveness” are just code words to paper that over.

Hat tip to Stand Firm.