Until that day, we will instruct our people to avoid this sin personally, and call them to the work of enlightening a blind culture, as we once did with the sin of slavery. Since this represents trespassing on private property, it is tantamount to civil disobedience and raises the question of its propriety. The Scriptures require us to obey civil authority, except where our conscience on the issues require an obedience to a higher authority. In this case, some Christians feel that the killing of the unborn is an issue which calls forth their higher obedience to God and conscience, even at the risk of civil disobedience. A case in comparison could be made with anti-slavery actions by the underground railway movement years ago in which the Wesleyan Methodist Church was very prominent.
Military service is another issue where law and conscience have been in tension.
These are not ordinary times and easy answers do not always exist when facing the issues we confront today. Accordingly, the time has come for The Wesleyan Church to speak to the matter of civil disobedience in such cases as the anti-abortion battle. Wesleyans should be prepared for the consequences which follow these responses in a morally insensitive world. The Wesleyan Church pledges to be equally supportive to those who give an active but non-violent response and to those who by conscience feel restricted to legislative remedies. All Wesleyans raise the prayer to God that He will restore to us in this generation a social righteousness which commends His blessings upon our nations and our posterity.