Elder Andersen’s Controversial Conference Talk on Abortion

[The Mormon Newscast 4.7.25] In the wake of General Conference, Elder Neil Andersen’s talk is creating a buzz. We’ll break down the story that has social media awry—a woman raising the child her husband fathered in an affair—as Andersen’s message on compassion collides with real-world questions about boundaries, forgiveness, and institutional tone-deafness. He also waded into abortion, doubling down on Church opposition while offering what some called a “compassionate” caveat. We’ll unpack both the praise and the pushback.

Also tonight:
— “Use the Spirit to Navigate AI” – The Church weighs in on artificial intelligence. Spoiler: they still think personal revelation is smarter than ChatGPT.
— Fairview Temple Update – What happened at the latest city meeting, and why the battle over the temple’s height is just the tip of the iceberg.
— The End of a Scholarly Era? – We look at the decline of the so-called “Golden Age” of Mormon Studies and what it says about the Church’s relationship with truth, history, and intellectual independence.

That’s all tonight on the Mormon Newscast—where faith meets facts, and we bring receipts.

[shannajohnston]

In this talk Elder Strong never took any responsibility for this man’s death. He never says he killed this man, he says this man was killed by the impact, he doesn’t feel badly at all. he feels like he’s a victim, which is why he was grateful for someone else helping him. We hear nothing about his compassion for the dead man’s family.

[stefanianderson]

I'm an artist. I went to Dixie State University over 20 years ago and Del Parson was my teacher there. He has done many paintings for the church. He would work on them during class sometimes. The church doesn't just approve his ideas. They gave him reference images that were taken in a studio at BYU with volunteers dressed in costume with lighting to make it just right. They gave him everything Del just had to paint it. So no rogue artists.

[DoreenSerb]

Elder Strong - I am struck by two things. One, he presents this story saying that as he is" first" put into the cell he was despondent because he feared for "himself "and feared being put into prison for the rest of his life, "not "because he had killed someone. This is so self-revealing. I can see later his fear of the consequence coming upon him, but his initial despondency, by his own admission, is" not about the other person" being dead not about the people who loved this person who was killed. I was hit by a car and almost killed when I was a child. I was unconscious and have no memory of the woman who hit me, but my parents said she was hysterical in deep despondency for hitting me and at the initial point of the occurrence her thoughts where all about me, "not herself " as no one knew if I would live or not. Also, as an adult I had a dear friend who made a mistake driving and hit another car where the driver was killed. She spent the first few years worrying about the widow of the man who was killed and the widow forgave her, but that accident tainted her whole life. That makes much more sense to me than this guy's story. (where is the reaction to what he did to someone else, not about himself?) Point 2 - as soon as you paused the video he has a big smile on his face. I believe he was right on script and his point is not about his own journey of concern for the victim and the victim's loved ones nor about seeking forgiveness, but on himself and his own fears of prison. bad story. Wish I never heard it. This guy is a leader of the

[rebuildingmylife]

Love, love love your podcast! Thank you for all the work you do to bring the truth to those of us who will listen!

[lawrenza]

So Strong killed a guy and his main concern was going to jail? What about the kid? He had a life and a family, what about repentance?

[customerservice]

I'm glad someone came to sit with you but the real question is, Who went to the family of the deceased and sat with them while they mourned?

[janalynelzinga]

For the next month, there should be no comments on Psych Ward Radio and Thoughtful Taint EXCEPT for quotes from Pres. Nelson's message!

[emilysnow]

I'm team RFM on the story about the guy who killed the bicyclist: that was very vulnerable to share the story of a mistake that could literally happen to any driver. The point of the story was the compassion that someone showed to him when he was the most scared. He didn't talk about how he felt about the boy he killed... but rather than interpret that as him not caring, i interpreted that as it still might be too painful to talk about, particularly in front of people. Also, he had a few short minutes to talk and couldn't cover every aspect of the story.

[joanlantis]

The woman who raised her husband's mistresses child should have had alot of attention paid to the kind of heartbreak she went through and how her husband tries to naje it up to her everyday of his life. Instead we get a story that assumes a woman should acquiesce to everyone elses feelings. No wonder utah has the highest use of antidepressants in the US.

[Jayjays]

Argh! The lack of boundaries in Andersons talk. The wife is the victim of her husbands adultery and you expect her to not only take him back but also “righteously” raise his child with another woman? What would her children think when she says to them, This is Daddy’s child with sister so and so in the Primary or wherever ??? They keep promoting overfunctioning and endless forgiveness by women.

[reneenolan]

It makes me so sad to be late to the show! But thanks for your service!

[rusochileno]

1:07:48 I grew up attending the Greenville, SC stake center! I’ve left the church but had a really great for the most part childhood, amazing place to grow up. But it definitely doesn’t need a temple.

[Jayjays]

Regarding Nelson’s neglect of his daughter: Oh the irony of taking comfort that you’ll see her again “ one day” and yet you aren’t even there for her last day!

[nadinehansen]

Note: Emma Smith's second husband, Lewis Bidamon, fathered a child by another women after he had been married to Emma for 17 years. According to LDS Living, when the child was 4 Emma took him in and raised him as her own.

[cherishtackett]

All these stories. Is there any kind of biblical scripture read or quoted? Or do they just tell "feel good, ear tickling" talks? I've not watched conference in yrs. Just curious.

[kimanderson]

Why is life right now not as sacred as the future post-mortal life? Why would a father not be present to comfort people, share in grief, support the sick or someone close to death? Isn’t there a scripture somewhere that says the covenant of the gospel is to mourn with those who mourn?

[Anne-Omnous]

With the LDS belief of conference talks becoming "LDS scripture", perhaps they are talking about abortion publicly to solidify it in their doctrine, legally speaking.

[KolobChoirQueen]

Can't wait to listen! Just starting now

[MoreWordsPlease]

In regards to the silent feud between Nelson & Hinckley over the word "mormon": if Nelson didn't believe at the time that Hinckley was inspired by God/HG in the things that he believed & taught, then he necessarily doesn't believe that prophets are the mouthpiece of God but rather they are just guys with opinions. Which means he knows that he is also just a guy with feelings and opinions... and yet he still puts himself up on a pedestal and claims to be woken up in the middle of the night with instruction directly from God and claims to be the one true mouthpiece because of his calling and position. It is clear to me that he is pompous and full of sh*t and having too much fun playing king to care much about the mormon church's impact in the world, let alone the impact of his words on the member's lives.

[rebuildingmylife]

The voice of your introduction is on point