by Rev. Mary Gear
I am reeling this week with the reality that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v Wade. I knew this was coming with the appointment of Gorsuch, then Kavanaugh, and a certainty with the appointment of Barrett. And I admit that I am struggling now that we are here. I know the hard decisions people make when they face an unexpected pregnancy. I am a strong supporter of free access to family planning and contraception, and I also know that no birth control is 100% effective. Nature is persistent in reproduction.
Like many Unitarian Universalists, I hold the principle that people have the right to agency and have the spiritual, emotional, and physical tools to wrestle with moral and ethical issues to make the best decisions for themselves and their family. Here are a couple of resources for the theological grounding for supporting reproductive justice: the 2015 Statement of Conscience from the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), and “Abortion as a Moral Decision” from the Religious Institute.
Maybe you are outraged, too. So, what can you do?
Here are some suggestions from the UUA’s Side With Love:
- Join Side With Love and the National Network of Abortion Funds for our upcoming political education event, Heart-to-Heart: Abortion Conversations & Action for a Post-Roe World, Tuesday, May 17 at 8pm ET/5pm PT. https://bit.ly/FutureOfAbortionAccess
- Support local organizing for abortion access and Reproductive Justice. Form a congregational team, educate yourselves, join with other progressive people of faith, follow the lead of your local Reproductive Justice organization.
- Donate to your local abortion fund to ensure that everyone who needs an abortion can afford one.
- Get involved with SACReD, the Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity, which is building a multi-racial, multi-faith movement of congregations across the country that publicly proclaim their support for reproductive dignity. It’s so new that it doesn’t have a full website, but you can sign up for future communications here.
- Get involved with the work of the Liberate Abortion Coalition, and consider participating in the upcoming Abortion Crisis Caravan this June.
We are fortunate to live in a state where reproductive health care is a right. As a people of faith, we are called to work to make real that right for everyone.