The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints denounces abortion as “evil,” calls on church members to help support women with unanticipated pregnancies

By Dave Andrusko

In the first of two annual conferences held virtually because of the pandemic, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often referred to as the Mormons, over the weekend denounced abortion as “evil, stark and real and repugnant,” the Associated Press reported,

Church leader Neil Andersen, citing a speech by former church President Gordon B. Hinckley, went on to “plead with women to avoid considering it.”

“Let us share our deep feelings about the sanctity of life with those who make decisions in society,” Andersen said. “They may not fully appreciate what we believe, but we pray that they will more fully understand why, for us, these decisions go well beyond just what a person wants for his or her own life.”

The AP continued, writing that Andersen

said church members should step in to help support women if an unanticipated child is coming to allow a child to be born and continue the baby’s “journey in mortality.”

“Normally, top leaders sit side-by-side on stage with the religion’s well-known choir behind them and about 20,000 people attending each of the five sessions over two days,” the AP explained. Instead, members “watch[ed] during the two-day conference this Easter weekend on TVs, computers and tablets from their homes around the world. Church leaders are giving the speeches from inside a building at church headquarters in Salt Lake City, where they are sitting socially distanced and wearing masks.”