Faith in Values: Roe and Religion - link added (I'm am thinking very slowly today, lol)

[cbayer]

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/religion/news/2013/01/16/49751/faith-in-values-roe-and-religion/



Contrary to popular belief, religious leaders have long been among the staunchest supporters of women seeking an abortion.

By Sally Steenland | January 16, 2013

It may be surprising for some to find out that in the years before the Supreme Court legalized abortion in its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, clergy were among the staunchest supporters of women seeking an abortion. Twenty-one ministers and rabbis created the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion—an underground network that counseled women and led them to compassionate, competent doctors who provided abortion care. Although the network had only a handful of clergy at first, it grew to about 1,400 clergy operating on the East Coast during the 1960s to serve women from across the nation.

Rev. Howard Moody—who was born in Texas, lived in New York, and died in 2012 at age 91—created the network and considered it one of his most important ministries. Women “came from all over the country,” he told an interviewer in 2001. “They came by plane and train, and bus, and car.” Women were desperate and needed help. “It was the most humiliating, frightening prospect for women that you can imagine,” Moody said. He’d seen women die from botched illegal abortions and was stirred by compassion to help them.

A few years after the Roe decision, a number of religious organizations voiced support for the decision, even as they acknowledged the moral complexity of abortion and honored the sanctity of life. Their views were articulated in an ecumenical study document on abortion published in 1978 and discussed in a recent article on AlterNet.

In the study document, American Baptist Churches said that, “Abortion should be a matter of personal decision.” The American Lutheran Church agreed, recognizing the “freedom and responsibility of individuals to make their own choices in light of the best information available to them and their understanding of God’s will for their lives.”

More at link

[DryRain]

1. Strange that the ONLY people I hear in opposition to Roe v Wade are....

Christians, and then a few Muslims, and maybe one or two orthodox Jewish folks.

Never a peep of opposition from those Athesists or agnostics. Never have I read a word in opposition from THOSE FOLKS! It has mostly been from outspoken Christians who appear and oppose Roe v Wade.

What say you about that strange coincidence? Are Atheists just too shy to show up on camera or in print in opposition to R v W?

Actually, I just heard from some Catholic folks, they don't like this idea of contraception........and they made their own video.

[cbayer]

2. Does that surprise you?

Most anti-abortion stands are based on religious beliefs about when life begins.

This article, OTOH, is about religious believers who support a woman's right to choose.

But don't miss the opportunity to attack religion.

[DryRain]

5. Is observation of reality somehow an "attack"?

But don't miss the opportunity to attack religion.

Religion is what it is. If one becomes defensive about observations of one's own religious beliefs, well... finish your own sentence.

I'm just observing here why Roe v Wade was in ANY WAY "controversial" to religious people.

What exactly is a "religion" that can be used to support or oppose the same identical issue? Maybe, (should I suggest?) just an extension of the self?

[cbayer]

6. Again, the article is about the liberal/progressive religious communities

and leaders that have been strong advocates of a woman's right to choose.

I don't think anyone is going to disagree that the the religious right holds a different position.

It's not about being defensive about observations about religion, it's about taking offense at some people's inability to see past their own prejudice and broadbrush assumptions about religious groups and individuals.

[DreamGypsy]

3. That was (mostly) then, this is now.

Here's the link...I think

http://www.liberalroundup.com/politics/center-for-american-progress/245408-faith-in-values-roe-and-religion

Steenlan also writes:

How things have changed. In the early 1980s, the Republican Party wooed and won the support of millions of religious conservatives, and those nuanced theological truths got buried under a political campaign that claimed God-driven opposition to abortion. Conservatives even altered texts of the Bible to fit their rigid antiabortion stance.

As we approach the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade next Tuesday, however, we must challenge that unbending opposition. We need to remember another way of thinking—one that supports women’s reproductive health and rights through a lens of morality and faith. We also need to remember that when abortion opponents claim a monopoly on God’s truth, their certainty is less than 40 years old.

An accurate statement, I think, is that there have been, and probably always will be, religious leaders who support women's rights. We need to congratulate and support those who do.

Thanks for the post, CB.

[cbayer]

4. Sorry about the missing link - I added it.

Unfortunately, because the religious right has been so vocal, there has developed an assumption about the stance of all christians regarding abortion which is not valid.

I am always glad to see article like this.

[niyad]

7. thank you for this article.