Five Alabama pastors and a state lawmaker spoke at the State House today to begin circulating the Birmingham Proclamation, a statement declaring the city “a sanctuary for preborn children” and opposing a new Planned Parenthood facility.

Attached to the proclamation was a list of more than 100 pastors and ministers who support it.

The Rev. Harry Reeder III, pastor of Briarwood Presbyterian Church, said the group has a straightforward agenda.

“It’s life, from the conception all the way to when the Lord calls somebody home, that is our commitment, is to life,” Reeder said. "And that’s why we do not want to see this abortion clinic opening up in Birmingham.”

Reeder said the closing of abortion clinics in Birmingham has been a positive development during his 20 years in his adopted hometown. Alabama’s largest city does not have a clinic that regularly performs abortions. The state’s three clinics are in Montgomery, Huntsville, and Tuscaloosa.

Barbara Ann Luttrell, vice president of external affairs for Planned Parenthood Southeast, said the new Birmingham clinic is expected to be finished before the end of the year. Luttrell declined comment on today’s Birmingham Proclamation event.

Besides Reeder, other pastors and clergy who spoke were Terry Gensemer of the Charismatic Episcopal Church for Life, Zanthia Turner of Bread of Life World Outreach Ministries, Charles Troncale of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Michael Novotny of Christ the King Anglican. They were joined by Rep. Arnold Mooney, a Republican from Shelby County who is a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Doug Jones.

Turner said she followed bad advice to have an abortion when she was a teenager.

“At the age of 15 and almost three months pregnant, I was told the senseless murder of my baby was for my own good,” Turner said. “With no one to confide in, I carried many burdens and many unanswered questions. Was it a boy or was it a girl? I struggled with the family secret that left me with shame, embarrassment, regret and years of low self-esteem.”

Turner said she was eventually able to find spiritual healing through her faith.

“Aborting my baby did not make life better for me," Turner said. "But years later, through the love of Christ I was able to find healing. And because of that healing, today, I choose to stand. Today, the Christian community stands united. We will fight to defend those who cannot defend themselves.”

After the news conference, the group planned to deliver the proclamation to the offices of Gov. Kay Ivey, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, Attorney General Steve Marshall and the Alabama Department of Public Health, which licenses abortion clinics in Alabama.

Gensemer read a statement from Ainsworth at the news conference that began with "Abortion is murder.

“Those three simple words sum up my position on an issue that many falsely claim is a complex one,” Ainsworth wrote.

Ainsworth presided over the state Senate this year when it passed a bill to make it a felony for doctors to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy except to protect the mother from a serious health risk. Proponents said the purpose of the law, the strictest abortion ban in the country, was to trigger a court challenge to the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision of 1973.

The law is written to take effect in November but is expected to be blocked by a federal judge. Planned Parenthood Southeast and the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama filed a lawsuit in May on behalf of abortion providers challenging the law.