Pro-Choice Christians Are Everywhere

[one...two...tree 2,762]

When you hear the two words "Christian" and "abortion" in a mainstream media story you can guess with certainty the jest of the story is Christian opposition to abortion. But do all Christian oppose abortion? Well, no. I'm a United Church of Christ seminarian preparing for ordination and I'm a supporter of a woman's right to make her own health care decisions.

In fact, many Christian denominations have taken "pro-choice" positions over the issue of abortion. The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is their vehicle for education and advocacy:

The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice was founded in 1973 to safeguard the newly won constitutional right to abortion. The Coalition founders were clergy and lay leaders from mainstream religions, many of whom had provided women with referrals to safe abortion services before the Supreme Court legalized abortion in Roe v. Wade. The founders believed that there would be at most a ten-year struggle to secure the right to choose. In fact the struggle is far from over. It has changed and intensified, and the stakes are growing. Today, the Religious Coalition is an alliance of national organizations from major faiths, affiliates throughout the country, and the national

Clergy for Choice Network

,

Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom

, and

The Black Church Initiative.

While our members are religiously and theologically diverse, they are unified in the commitment to preserve reproductive choice as a basic part of religious liberty.

Our rational, healing perspective looks beyond the bitter abortion debate to seek solutions to pressing problems such as unintended pregnancy, the spread of HIV/AIDS, inadequate health care and health insurance, and the severe reduction in reproductive health care services. We support access to sex education, family planning and contraception, affordable child care and health care, and adoption services as well as safe, legal, abortion services, regardless of income. We work for public policies that ensure the medical, economic, and educational resources necessary for healthy families and communities that are equipped to nurture children in peace and love.

You might be surprised to learn of all the denominations that are members of the coalition.

• ::

The Epsicopal Church, United Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian Church (USA), and the American Baptist Church join with over 40 national church bodies in supporting the work of RCRC. The Reverend Dr. Katherine Hancock Ragsdale has said this about Christianity and the issue of abortion:

We're pro-choice because we know that the Bible and any faith worthy of the name do not give simple and easy answers to complex and difficult questions. They don't promise to spare us from making tough decisions. They just promise that we won't have to face those choices alone. We're pro-choice because we know that our faith cannot answer the question of when a fetus becomes a person. We also know that the whole question of fetal personhood is a disingenuous, and often malicious, attempt to distract us from the real issue--which is that the woman is a person. She is a person endowed by God, the U.S. Constitution, and common sense and decency with rights and responsibilities that she must exercise to the best of her ability, using her own best judgment.

And while our various religious traditions may teach various things about when, if, and how we should sacrifice ourselves for others, no one--not partner, priest, or politician--no one gets to decide what is, or is not, an appropriate sacrifice for someone else to make.

The religious right has hijacked Christianity and manipulated millions to believe that being anti-choice is the only choice for Christians.

But if you're a pro-choice Christian who feels alone and isolated please know that many churches support you and that there is a group - the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice - that is working for you and that needs your help in turn. Make sure you visit their web site.

http://www.streetprophets.com/storyonly/2005/9/26/235922/263

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Pro-Choice Christians Are Everywhere

Run for the hills! Mutants!

[Mark&Steph 0]

Interesting. I was reading about this a little bit earlier myself.

A bit related: Recently I was listening to an interview with a lady who just released a book about religious attitudes towards abortion through out the world and through out history. She was talking about how in this country, catholics were always against it but evangelical christians never really bothered much with abortion until feminism came along and they adopted abortion into their platform, the whole women's reproductive rights, blah blah blah. I just thought that kinda interesting.

I sure wish I could remember who the hell the author was or the name of the damn book.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Interesting read brother, thx

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Interesting. I was reading about this a little bit earlier myself.

A bit related: Recently I was listening to an interview with a lady who just released a book about religious attitudes towards abortion through out the world and through out history. She was talking about how in this country, catholics were always against it but evangelical christians never really bothered much with abortion until feminism came along and they adopted abortion into their platform, the whole women's reproductive rights, blah blah blah. I just thought that kinda interesting.

I sure wish I could remember who the hell the author was or the name of the damn book.

Yep. I remember back in the 70's growing up as Catholic. My next door neighbors were Protestant and were ambivalent about abortion. It was only the Catholic Church that I remember who held firmly to the belief that life begins at conception.

What is also interesting - during the time of Moses, the ancient Hebrews would take a newborn child and leave it out in the field if the it was the first born and not a son. I could be wrong on the reasons, but nevertheless, they practiced infanticide. That isn't to say that it is okay now, but it shows that back then, their ideas about personhood were pretty archaic.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

"Christians" who support murdering the Lord's creations and robbing them of His gift of Life. They don't sound much like Christians to me.

[~PalmTreeGurl~ 154]

"Christians" who support murdering the Lord's creations and robbing them of His gift of Life. They don't sound much like Christians to me.

my thoughts exactly !

[_Simpson_ 250]

Theres crazy people everywhere too but they dont speak for the majority.