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Europe and North America

Religious leaders praise Democrats’ new language regarding abortion

August 13, 2008
Jay Hamburg, The Orlando Sentinel

A group of Catholic and evangelical leaders hailed new language for the Democratic Party’s platform that calls for reducing abortion as a way to create common ground with many traditional Republican voters.

The Rev. Joel Hunter, pastor of Longwood, Fla.-based Northland, A Church Distributed, was among those praising the new wording, to be presented for approval at the Democratic convention in Denver later this month.

"From my perspective as a conservative evangelical, Barack Obama’s campaign and the Democratic Party have taken a historic and courageous step toward empowering women for an expanded range of choices and saving babies’ lives," said Hunter, former president of the Christian Coalition, a national conservative advocacy group.

Hunter, who along with other religious leaders helped shape the new language, took part in a national conference call Tuesday to bring attention to the platform’s focus on family-planning service, access to health care, sex education programs and adoption to reduce unwanted pregnancies.

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