More importantly, it is not accountable to the Presbyterian General Assembly, as is the General Assembly's Stated Clerk or church entities such as the Washington Office. The RCRC is a broad-based political lobby located on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., which claims to represent 40 member organizations, many that are not Christian, and 55 grassroots organizations 1 . The goal of the RCRC is to be a voice of the religious community to lawmakers. We affirm that abortion should not be used as a method of birth control. Or, The strong Christian presumption is that since all life is precious to God, we are to preserve and protect it.
Abortion ought to be an option of last resort.
The large number of abortions in this society is a grave concern to the church. More than once Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick has communicated the action of the General Assembly to Congress since that time. But RCRC continues to lobby Congress in support of partial birth abortions, apparently lumping the General Assembly's concern with its charges against the Christian Coalition. In contrast, the 1998 General Assembly voiced its commitment to communicating the message of sexual purity to our youth. RCRC lobbies against parental notification laws in cases where teens seek abortions.