Anglicans for Life (AFL) is the

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

ministry of the

Anglican Church in North America The Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) is a Christian denomination in the Anglican tradition in the United States and Canada. It also includes ten congregations in Mexico, two mission churches in Guatemala, and a missionary diocese in Cuba. ...

and internationally associated with some member churches of the

Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (branded as GAFCON or Gafcon) is a communion of conservative Anglican churches, aligned with the Confessing Movement, that formed in 2008 in response to ongoing theological disputes in the worldwide A ...

. AFL educates and provides pastoral resources on the

right to life The right to life is the belief that a human (or other animal) has the right to live and, in particular, should not be killed by another entity. The concept of a right to life arises in debates on issues including: capital punishment, with some ...

position on the issues of

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

assisted suicide Assisted suicide, sometimes restricted to the context of physician-assisted suicide (PAS), is the process by which a person, with the help of others, takes actions to end their life. Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifie ...

elderly care Elderly care, or simply eldercare (also known in parts of the English-speaking world as aged care), serves the needs of old adults. It encompasses assisted living, adult daycare, long-term care, nursing homes (often called residential care), ...

cloning Cloning is the process of producing individual organisms with identical genomes, either by natural or artificial means. In nature, some organisms produce clones through asexual reproduction; this reproduction of an organism by itself without ...

and

embryonic stem cell Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are Cell potency#Pluripotency, pluripotent stem cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst, an early-stage pre-Implantation (human embryo), implantation embryo. Human embryos reach the blastocyst stage 4� ...

research. AFL also educates and provides pastoral resources on

abstinence Abstinence is the practice of self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol (drug), ...

and

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...

. The organization has volunteer Life Leaders in more than 100 parishes in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

and

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. AFL also has the support of the

American Anglican Council The American Anglican Council began as an organization of theologically conservative Anglicans from both the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and The Episcopal Church in the United States. According to its membership brochure, it was fou ...

. Anglicans for Life Canada is affiliated with the

Anglican Diocese of Canada The Anglican Diocese of Canada (formerly known as the Anglican Network in Canada, or ANiC) is the Canadian diocese of the Anglican Church in North America. Established in 2005, prior to becoming a founding diocese of the ACNA, it originated as ...

, a diocese of the Anglican Church in North America, being officially launched at 7 May 2014 in a seminar held at St. Peter and St. Paul's Anglican Church in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. The current president is Georgette Forney. The first director is Vicky Hedelius.

History

The Episcopal Church was historically anti-abortion. In 1958, it still held that "Abortion and infanticide are to be condemned." In 1966 Joseph Harte, bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Arizona The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America which has jurisdiction over most of Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of ...

founded Episcopalians for Life, which was officially incorporated in 1983 as the National Organization of Episcopalians for Life Research and Education Foundation (NOEL). From 1983 to 1996 NOEL operated from Fairfax, Virginia. It published newsletters and educational resources to present their

concerns. NOEL's ministry reached nationwide, ministering to women in unplanned pregnancies, educating Episcopalians about abortion, and working to influence the church by introducing

resolutions at

General Convention The General Convention is the primary governing and legislative body of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. With the exception of the Bible, the ''Book of Common Prayer'', and the Constitution and Canons, it is the ultimate autho ...

s. In 1988, the 69th General Convention of the Episcopal Church adopted a resolution that stated: "All human life is sacred. Hence it is sacred from its inception until death." The statement went on to call for church programs to assist women with problem pregnancies and to emphasize the seriousness of the abortion decision. In 1994, the Episcopal Church was the first church member of the Anglican Communion to fully support legal abortion at the 71st General Convention, expressing its "unequivocal opposition to any... action... that

ould Ould is an English surname as well as an element of many Arabic names. In Arabic contexts it is a transliteration of the word wikt:ولد, ولد, meaning "son". Notable people with this surname include: English surname * Edward Ould (1852–190 ...

abridge the right of a woman to reach an informed decision about the termination of her pregnancy, or that would limit the access of a woman to a safe means of acting upon her decision." In 1996 the NOEL headquarters moved from Virginia to

Sewickley, Pennsylvania Sewickley is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, west northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. It is a residential suburb of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 3,907 at the 2020 census. The Sewick ...

. In 1998 the board appointed Georgette Forney as the fifth president of NOEL, a position formerly named "executive secretary" and "executive director". NOEL changed its name to Anglicans For Life in 2006 as its ministry expanded to the wider

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

. In the US, AFL works with parishes of

the Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church (TEC), also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (PECUSA), is a member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, based in the United States. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is ...

, ACNA, and other Continuing Anglican groups. The Anglican Church in North America, upon its creation, in 2009, adopted an official pro-life stance on abortion and euthanasia, stating that "all members and clergy are called to promote and respect the sanctity of every human life from conception to natural death". The ACNA became associated with Anglicans for Life, who has been their official pro-life ministry.

Campaigns

In conjunction with

Priests for Life Priests for Life (PFL) is an anti-abortion organization based in Titusville, Florida. PFL functions as a network to promote and coordinate anti-abortion movements, anti-abortion activism, especially among Roman Catholic priests and laymen, with t ...

, Anglicans for Life (then NOEL) launched the Silent No More campaign in 2003 in an effort to further educate the general public about abortion and other related issues. Silent No More is a ministry started by post-abortive women and men with the intention of reaching out to other post-abortive people. The Campaign allowed AFL to network and partner with other

organizations in the United States. In 2010, AFL launched the "Anglican Angel Ministry" to raise awareness about the need to help pregnant women and to provide a parish-based support system for single mothers. The Silent No More campaign has 80 Regional Coordinators worldwide, in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Scotland, France, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Spain, Australia and Uganda.Silent No More at Anglicans for Life Official Website

References

Sources

External links

Official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anglicans for Life American Christian political organizations Anglican Church in North America Anglican organizations Christian organizations established in 1966 Anti-abortion organizations in the United States 1966 establishments in Pennsylvania

History

Campaigns

See also

References

Sources

External links