A survey of over 1,000 American women who have had one or more abortions reveals that most of the churchgoing women did not trust the church to support them in abortion-related decisions.
The research was carried out by LifeWay Research, in collaboration with a non-profit organization Care-Net, a national network of crisis-pregnancy centers, which also sponsored the study.
About 40 percent of the respondents who reported of having had abortions were churchgoing women, who attended church at least once a month or more. But 70 percent referred to Christianity as their preferred religion.
As many as 76 percent of the women said church was not in the picture when they considered abortion, while 65 percent thought church members are quick to judge pregnant single mothers.
Only 41 percent said churches were gracious enough to offer support regarding decisions to terminate pregnancies, while 54 percent believed churches oversimplify pregnancy decisions.
Some 30 percent of women think the church can give reliable advice on pregnancy. A very small proportion (7 percent) of the women actually discussed pregnancy options with the church.
"Women are perceiving judgment from the church, and that's probably partly because there are clear teachings in the Bible including about how and why we make judgments. However, if they don't start experiencing something different than what they've seen in the past, these numbers aren't going to change," said Scott McConnell, vice president of LifeWay Research.
About 33 percent of the women said they were judged or perceived judgement when they sought the church for advice on their pregnancies, and only 16 percent expected caring responses from the congregation.
McConnell said that even if a few people in church show judgmental attitudes, women might feel it as a general response towards them.
"They'll perceive everybody feels that way... That tells you the environment of the church. You can't say you've had an abortion, you can't say you're considering one -- it's completely taboo to discuss," he said.
Women who were regular church attendants (once a month or higher frequency) discussed pregnancy issues (16 percent) more than those (2 percent) who went to church sparingly.
Also, 31 percent of the frequent churchgoers said they received or expected more helpful response, as against 7 percent of those women who rarely attend church and responded likewise.
Russell Moore, President of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, had said in a specialized sermon last year, which was addressed to pastors, to stop taking abortion as something that only happens in a world outside the church.
"Every time you address this, you need to address it not as some kind of external cultural issue but as something that affects your congregation and the people in your pews," he noted.
