Church of England (Anglican) Perspectives on Abortion

This chapter examines perspectives on abortion within the Church of England and, more widely, within worldwide Anglicanism. It starts with an explanation of some of the most relevant features of the Church of England, namely, that it does not have a central and binding authority on ethical issues, that it is an ‘established’ church with a specific relationship to the monarch and parliament and that it contains a variety of both Protestant and Catholic features. It then examines separately three different areas where perspectives on abortion can be identified within the Church of England and wider Anglicanism. The first is changing statements and resolutions on contraception and abortion made by the international Lambeth Conference of Bishops over the last one hundred years. The second is conclusions reached by, and contemporary responses to, the influential report on abortion produced by the Church of England’s Board for Social Responsibility in 1965. This report is important because it informed the debate that lead to the British legalization of abortion in 1968. The third area is British data about opinions – on abortion, fertility treatments and the use of embryos for research – held by lay people within the Church of England and the public more widely.