I woke up Friday morning to the "breaking news" that the Susan G. Komen Foundation had reversed its decision to pull funding for breast cancer screenings from Planned Parenthood. My reaction was that this was not just good news for the women needing the services that Planned Parenthood provides and the Komen Foundation funds -- it was good news that the power of public outrage can actually have an impact on the anti-abortion zealot driven politicization of women's health issues. And the bad news was that the outrage was even necessary -- and that women's health care continues to be exploited as a wedge issue in our polarized partisan politics.
Speaking out on this issue -- which of course I did because, well, because I'm me -- I unleashed a flurry of responses from folks who were unable to reconcile my position as a pro-choice advocate with my vocation as a priest and pastor. One commenter summed it up tersely: "What kind of religion do you represent, lady?"
The answer is that I represent one which gives me room to be both proudly and prayerfully pro-choice. In 1988 the Episcopal Church went on record with a powerful statement affirming its commitment to both the sanctity of life and a woman's right to reproductive freedom. From the resolution:
All human life is sacred from its inception until death. The Church takes seriously its obligation to help form the consciences of its members concerning this sacredness. Human life, therefore, should be initiated only advisedly and in full accord with this understanding of the power to conceive and to give birth which is bestowed by God.
We regard all abortion as having a tragic dimension, calling for the concern and compassion of all the Christian community. While we acknowledge that in this country it is the legal right of every woman to have a medically safe abortion, as Christians we believe strongly that if this right is exercised, it should be used only in extreme situations. We emphatically oppose abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection, or any reason of mere convenience.
And then, in 1994, as the anti-abortion movement mobilized to restrict reproductive freedom of American women, we added this "further resolve":
"The Episcopal Church express its unequivocal opposition to any legislative, executive or judicial action on the part of local, state or national governments that abridges the right of a woman to reach an informed decision about the termination of pregnancy or that would limit the access of a woman to safe means of acting on her decision."
That's the "religion I represent" -- one that acknowledges there is tension between the sacredness of life we affirm and the freedom of choice we support. And the parish I represent -- All Saints Church in Pasadena -- is one that has been officially "prayerfully pro-choice" since 1989.
And so as a proudly and prayerfully pro-choice priest and pastor, I rejoice that there's a silver lining in the whole sorry mess of the Susan G. Komen Foundation vs. Planned Parenthood story. That silver lining is the elevation of the issue of access to women's health care for underserved populations to the top of the news and -- for the moment -- the good news of a victory against the politicization of health care in general and women's health care in specific.
My prayer is that we learn from this that our voices can count, that our mobilizing can make a difference. And my hope is that together we can protect women's reproductive freedom by blocking the efforts of the anti-abortion zealots to make women's health care a sacrificial lamb on the altar of partisan politics.
Follow Rev. Susan Russell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/revsusanrussell
Anu Kumar: What Komen v. Planned Parenthood Teaches Us About Abortion Stigma
I'm a little dumbfounded at this: "as Christians we believe strongly that if this right is exercised, it should be used only in extreme situations. We emphatically oppose abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection, or any reason of mere convenience."
Planned parenthood is the epitome of providing abortions as a means of birth control, family planning, sex section or any reason of mere convenience. But the article didn't explain that blatant dichotomy either.
The article doesn't explain the Episcopal Church's almost schizophrenic view on the issue.
"We often speak of Anglican "comprehensiveness." If this is a way of making relativism palatable or a means of accommodating all shades of opinion with no regard for truth, then it needs to be rejected. If by comprehensive we mean the priority of a dialectic quest over precision and immediate closure then we are speaking of the Anglican consciousness at its best."
Thanks for commenting.
"Abortions should be safe, legal and rare." - Hillary Clinton
I guess that is why abortions occur with a 3 times greater frequency for black women and a 2 times greater frequency for women in poverty. I guess you would advocate more Planned Parenthood clinics are needed so we can push those disproportionate numbers even higher.
Keep up the good work Planned Parenthood . . . right? It saddens me you have such a disrespect for human life, particularly in impoverished minority neighborhoods. Poor and minority women deserve better than a Planned Parenthood clinic open door to cure all that ails them.
My guess is that you rarely drive through the neighborhoods you speak of, let alone know and care about the people who live there.
What is the root cause of these abortions? PP clinics every block for abortion on demand. A failed education system where these children have no hope. A failed aide system where libs for years have controlled the local, state and federal officials and decided the remedy to all of these problems is to simply throw more money at the problem. A culture where abortion is championed and abstinence is laughed at.
What choices do these women have? How about a choice to abstain from unprotected sex? How about school vouchers so they have a choice to flee the failing school system they are enslaved to? How about counseling where they are advised there are alternatives to abortion? How about counseling after an abortion to educate them from repeating the mistake?
I care about all Americans. The wealthiest of wealthy and the poorest of poor. How about you?
because they're inconvenient has got to stop!
What is a fetus?
Is it a piece of concrete? A stick of wood?
Look at a fetus with mindfulness.
A fetus is ALIVE!
A fetus is a joyfully sacred growing lifeform -incredibly beautiful!
Jesus was once a fetus, Buddha, MLK and everyone.
When you were a fetus -you were at your most vulnerable.
Who'd protect you from a lack of compassion?
Who will protect you from dehumanization as convenience?
Stop dehumanizing human fetuses and calling it freedom-it's murder plain and simple.
Aborting a fetus is pure evil and for this woman to
claim she follows Christ is an abomination.
Teach birth control not murder of innocent, vulnerable and most Holy sentient beings.