MONROVIA – “If you legalized abortion, you will be legalizing the killing of unborn children in Liberia”. The calling was made to the President Pro Tempore and Members of the Liberian Senate by Bishop Kortu K. Brown, general overseer of the Apostolic Pentecostal Church International. He was speaking at a special thanksgiving and praise service to climax a special intercessory prayer for peaceful, credible and fair elections for President of Liberia and members of the Legislature at New Water in the Desert Assembly on Sunday, August 8, 2023 during his engagement with members of the congregation.
The religious community opposes the legalization of abortion which will just help make the country a killing field for unborn children. In subsequent presentations, the prelate related how when Elizabeth was pregnant with John the Baptist that, according to St. Luke 1 vs 36 and verses 41 to 44, the baby about 6 months old leaped in her womb when she heard the voice of Mary, the mother of Jesus, during her visit, and I quote: “36And, behold, your cousin Elisabeth, she has also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren; 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy”.
Therefore, killing an unborn baby without any genuine cause is destroying a human life, he said, adding that Abortion is already legal in Liberia at any point in the pregnancy if the woman is a victim of rape, incest, if her life is at risk, or if the baby has a disability, However, “to legalize abortion whether 14 weeks, 12 weeks, 24 weeks, etc., is just wrong because it is a life made in the image of God, and it cannot be killed at any age, no matter how young it is or the person carrying it may desire”, the former president of the Liberia Council of Churches said.
Rev. Dr. Brown, who is also former President of the Interreligious Council of Liberia (IRCL) declared that “we, from the religious community are strongly opposed to abortion on demand because even science shows that life begins at conception. This is a biological fact. The baby’s heart begins to beat at just 3 weeks from conception and whether abortion is legal, 1 in 4 babies are reported to be aborted in the womb”. This, he said, has affected the population of Europe and other Western countries.
The tough-talking clergyman frown on the late involvement of the religious community in the debate on the legalization of abortion in Liberia, adding that “legalized abortion is legalized killing which will be the fate of unborn children in Liberia” once this bill is approved by the Liberian Senate. It will then go contrary to moral teachings and religious composition of the country, a place where about 97% of the people are Christians and Muslims, largely conventional religious people.
