PCA Passes Overture Condemning Sex-Changes For Children by 58% to 42% Vote
The theologically conservative Presbyterian Church in America had its General Assembly last week where they passed Overture 12: Petition Government to End Sex-change Procedures for Minors. The script calls for the denomination to petition the Biden administration to “renounce the sin” of encouraging and entrenching ‘gender-affirming care’ like puberty blockers and surgical intervention in minors.
The overture states that the PCA is “joyfully and confessionally committed to the Bible’s teaching on the complementarity of men and women” and that “medical and social interventions related to so-called sex change procedures are a rejection of God’s design that will prevent his blessing, grace, and joy to be experienced.”
It further calls sex-changes a rejection of science, argues that most minors with body dysphoria will grow out of it once they reach adulthood, condemns the government for removing children from parents who will not affirm their child transitioning, and says that the PCA must “make a stand” against doctors when they violate the Hippocratic Oath by transitioning children.
The Overture concludes with the promise of sending a petition to the Biden government and to elected officials in 50 states, which reads:
The vote was 1089-793, with the affirming side winning 58%-42%
Though that sounds very close, many Presbyterians opposed it not because they supported sex changes for children, but because they disagreed that it was the church’s role to petition the government over matters of public policy.
The Westminster Confession of Faith 31.4 says that “Synods and councils …are not to intermeddle with civil affairs which concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble petition in cases extraordinary; or, by way of advice, for satisfaction of conscience, if they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate.”
The winning side argued that this petition qualified as an ‘extraordinary case’ while many opposed did not believe it rose to the occasion.