Tim & Terri Palmquist’s blog

Do pro-life pastors offer pro-life counsel to women who are experiencing difficult pregnancies?

Certainly, pro-life pastors would unequivocally answer “yes” to that statement. Yet I also believe that a significant number of babies are aborted because of the counsel provided by many of these same pastors.

A recent case in point is the counsel provided last week by Pastor Chuck Smith on his radio program Pastor’s Perspective. (Some apparently don’t recognize his name, but as the founder and leader of the Calvary Chapel movement for over four decades, Pastor Chuck has undoubtedly been one of the most influential Christian leaders of the last half-century — I doubt that there are many churches in our nation which have not in been influenced in some way by the ministries born under his leadership.)

After a week of mounting controversy, Pastor Chuck still maintains that the counsel which he provided to “Nicki in Riverside” was consistent with his pro-life stand. This is clearly not a case of a mental slip-up by an elderly pastor as some are suggesting. No, the problem is much bigger than that. Few have detected how this reflects upon counsel typically provided by other pro-life pastors.

After being given repeated opportunities to clarify his original counsel to Nicki, Pastor Chuck continues to insist that he did not counsel her to abort her baby, and that Christians across the nation are guilty of falsely accusing their brethren (himself and Pastor Don Stewart, host of Pastor’s Perspective). But we don’t even need to argue this point. Even if we assume a pure, life-affirming intention in the hearts of pastors Chuck Smith and Don Stewart in handling Nicki’s call, could it be that their counsel had a deadly result? Could Nicki be expected to respond to their counsel by deciding to end her babies’ lives? Could she have done so while stating honestly her belief that these high-profile pastors advised her that it was permissible to do so? Could it be that the counsel of these pastors gave her courage to commit abortion when she would have otherwise continued to maintain that she did not want an abortion? Furthermore, would their counsel have led her to assert that she could be confident in God’s grace even while willingly walking into a dangerous killing center and submitting her body — her Holy Spirit-filled temple — to the knife of an unscrupulous abortionist? If so, did these shepherds (pastors) fail to fulfill their scriptural obligations to protect their sheep?

I believe that an accurate assessment of this situation would require “yes” answers to all of these questions. Furthermore, I believe that many pro-life pastors throughout our nation, if they are honest with themselves, would need to answer “yes” to these questions in relation to counsel that they themselves have offered to vulnerable pregnant women.

My belief is based not upon conjecture, but upon decades of experience with pregnant Christian women entering abortion chambers. Many times we have been told, “I talked to my pastor about this, and he recommended abortion.” We have even witnessed pastors bringing women from their church into killing centers (and even after being “caught in the act” at the abortion center, these pastors continue to insist that they are pro-life).
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