Last week I participated in a panel discussion hosted by the Center for American Progress (CAP) on the intersections of faith and reproductive justice. These conversations are critically important, particularly in these political times when threats to our bodily autonomy and right of conscience are sanctioned by our current administration, Congress, and many state legislatures.
The framing of these public discussions is always interesting and somewhat troubling to me. Often progressive spaces like these do recognize that many people of faith support reproductive health care, but with that understanding is the assumption that supporting the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare, including access to safe abortion care, necessitates some kind of moral reckoning for religious people.
We do ourselves a disservice when we assume the presence of scriptural or ethical conflicts that must be overcome for people of faith to participate in and at times take the lead in organizing efforts to end reproductive oppression. The truth of the matter is that there have always been religious people working to secure reproductive rights—and in their absence, ensuring that women have access to compassionate, life-saving care.
Read the rest of my post at Feminism and Religion.
