As the tight and tense battle for the U.S. presidency continues to heat up, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wants to make it clear: It has not changed its stance on political neutrality, its call for “Christlike love and civility in political discourse” and its long-standing position on abortion.
What has changed, though, is the hostility and extreme rhetoric on hot-button issues, including the character of the candidates, the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the Capitol insurrection and immigration reform.
On Tuesday, the Utah-based faith issued a news release (without naming Democrat Kamala Harris or Republican Donald Trump), reminding the public that it “does not endorse, promote or oppose political parties and their platforms or candidates for political office,” pointing to a statement it updated and issued last year. “...However, as an institution, it reserves the right to address issues it believes have significant moral consequences or that directly affect the mission, teachings or operations of the church.”
Abortion is one such moral issue for the church, but its position is more moderate and nuanced than some other faiths.
Even as political debate and demonization have grown more virulent in the wake of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe (ending the constitutional right to an abortion), the church’s position on the issue “remains unchanged.”
It opposes “elective abortion for personal or social convenience,” according to the church’s position, “and counsels its members not to submit to, perform, encourage, pay for or arrange for such abortions.”
The church allows for possible exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest, or when a “competent physician determines that the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy,” or when “a competent physician determines that the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth.”
As states work “to enact laws related to abortion,” the faith explained, “church members may appropriately choose to participate in efforts to protect life and to preserve religious liberty.”
The church has aligned itself on a number of social issues with conservative religions, which leads anti-abortion activists to presume Utah’s predominant faith would favor every effort to make abortion illegal at virtually any point and for any reason.
Although abortion has been a defining topic for many rank-and-file Latter-day Saints when choosing their personal political allegiances, it has not emerged as one of Mormonism’s signature issues nor a legislative battle the institutional church has been willing to join.
Indeed, some conservative Christians have chastised Latter-day Saints for not being anti-abortion enough.
How partisans view it
Robert Axson, Utah’s GOP chair, doesn’t see the church’s reissued statement on abortion “as a nod to Republicans, since the only issue they are leaning into is a core part of LDS doctrine.”
It just so happens, Axson wrote Tuesday in a text, “that the issue of life from an LDS perspective is closer to the Republican position than the Democratic position.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah GOP Chair Robert Axson, speaking in April 2024, says the Republican view of abortion is closer to the church's than the Democratic stance.
If anything, the church’s emphasis on its political neutrality when talking about its doctrine of life, he said, “could be seen as a nod to Democrats so as to not alienate folks whose position on life is out of step with the church’s position.”
Neither presidential candidate’s position “aligns perfectly with the church’s,” said former Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, pointing to the faith’s abortion exceptions for rape and incest and those deemed appropriate by a medical provider.
The new statement is just “a reminder that the church is not aligned,” McAdams said, “with either party.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, speaking in 2023, says the church's latest release is a "reminder that the church is not aligned with either party.”
Condemning an insurrection
The 17.2 million-member worldwide faith encouraged members “to be active citizens by registering, exercising their right to vote, and engaging in civic affairs, always demonstrating Christlike love and civility in political discourse.”
The church’s governing First Presidency declared in a June 2023 letter to members that “some principles compatible with the gospel may be found in various political parties, and members should seek candidates who best embody those principles.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) President Dallin H. Oaks, left, President Russell M. Nelson and President Henry B. Eyring at General Conference on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 5, 2024.
President Russell M. Nelson, and his two counselors, Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring, urged members “study candidates carefully and vote for those who have demonstrated integrity, compassion, and service to others, regardless of party affiliation.”
The three-man presidency argued that “merely voting a straight ticket or voting based on ‘tradition’ without careful study of candidates and their positions on important issues is a threat to democracy and inconsistent with revealed standards.”
Just this past weekend, in a sermon at the faith’s General Conference, Oaks lamented the state of public discourse, stating “this is a time of many harsh and hurtful words in public communications and sometimes even in our families.”
These “sharp differences on issues of public policy” have serious and harmful consequences, he warned (without overtly mentioning the coming election), including “actions of hostility — even hatred” between people both privately and publicly. Other times, it “paralyzes” lawmaking on urgent matters.
“We need to love and do good to all. We need to avoid contention and be peacemakers in all our communications,” he advised. “This does not mean to compromise our principles and priorities but to cease harshly attacking others for theirs.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) President Dallin H. Oaks addresses the congregation during the morning session of General Conference on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.
As members pursue their preferred policies in public actions, “let us qualify for his blessings by using the language and methods of peacemakers,” he urged. “In our families and other personal relationships, let us avoid what is harsh and hateful.”
On a similar note, in mid-January 2021 — soon after the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol — the church issued a statement condemning “violence and lawless behavior, including the recent violence in Washington, D.C., and any suggestion of further violence.”
What about immigration?
Although Tuesday’s release referenced abortion, it did not mention immigration — one of the most vitriolic subjects in the 2024 election and one the church has hardly been silent on in the past.
In 2010, it gave its blessing to the Utah Compact, which lays out compassionate principles to guide immigration reform, including respect for law enforcement, opposition to family separations, a recognition of the value of immigrants to the economy, and a humane approach to integrating immigrants into communities.
The church reaffirmed its support of the pact in 2019.
And, in January 2018, soon after Nelson was installed as church president, it called on Congress to overrule Trump’s effort (without naming him) to rescind protection for “Dreamers,” whose undocumented parents brought them to the United States as children.
The church called on lawmakers to “provide hope and opportunities” for the estimated 1.8 million Dreamers living in the nation at the time.
Latter-day Saint leaders noted that while “immigration is a complex and sometimes divisive issue . . . we believe that our first priority is to love and care for one another as Jesus Christ taught.”
While falling short of endorsing any “specific legislative or executive solution,” the church said it hopes “there is provision for strengthening families and keeping them together.”
