The Presbyterian Church in America, a conservative Christian denomination, recently agreed to appoint a commission to draft a document petitioning the U.S. government to reject the “practice of surgical and medical gender reassignment, especially of minors.”
Overture 12, known as the “Petition Government to End Sex-change Procedures for Minors,” was considered at the PCA’s 50th General Assembly earlier this month. In response to Overture 12, a measure was put forward to answer the overture by appointing a “commission to draft a humble petition” to the government regarding sex-change procedures. That measure passed by a vote of 1089-793.
Overture 12 contained numerous Scripture passages and several citations from the Westminster Confession of Faith.
“The Scriptures said in the beginning, ‘God created man in his own image…male and female he created them’ (Genesis 1:27, 2:7, 2:21-24, 5:2) and as confessed in Westminster Confession of Faith 4.2, Larger Catechism Q17, and Shorter Catechism Q10,” the overture said.
The overture also cited numerous scientific studies, including one that indicated “a substantial majority of children suffering from gender dysphoria come to accept their biological sex as they go through puberty.”
The document described “so-called sex change medical and surgical interventions” as an “injustice” to minor children and a “rejection of science.”
The overture, which declares that “no governmental authority has the right to remove [a] child from his or her parents because they do not support their child transitioning to another gender,” was intended to be sent to the Biden Administration and all 50 state governments.
Overture 12 as written was not voted on, but the denomination did agree to draft a similar petition to the civil government.
Fred Greco, the moderator of this year’s PCA General Assembly, told Fox News that most of the votes against the overture were not based on disagreement over the dangers of “sex-change” procedures, but rather disputes over the denomination’s role in petitioning the civil government.
One elder within the PCA told The Lancaster Patriot that he was in favor of the original overture, but voted against the measure put forward because he hoped the denomination would return to the original overture.
